Grey Friar

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited August 2024

Home › Fells › Grey Friar

773 mWainwright — Southern Fells+4 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Grey Friar at 773m (2,536ft) is the most westerly of the main Coniston Fells, a stony, twin-topped summit with wide views westward to the Scafell massif across the Duddon valley, and south-west to the coast and the sea.

Summit conditions on Grey Friar

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 57 mph, 5.2 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.

Wind on the top

Past the line

69 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 55 mph times our exposure factor of 1.25. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 57 mph, before any exposure factor.

The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS (opens in new tab) describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.

Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.

Cloud on the top

Past the line

17 out of 100, the clear-top reading

Averaged over the daylight hours, from the forecast’s humidity and low cloud.

The line Our line: a clear-top reading under 20 out of 100, where our scorer says “summit likely clagged in”. There is no outside threshold to cite; it is our estimate. What cloud does to finding the way: navigating in cloud.

Not an observation: cloud lifts and drops within the hour.

Also checked cold: feels like −1 °C, no ice or snow forecast; rain: 5.2 mm in the day, under our 6 mm line. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.

Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.

Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Routes up Grey Friar

Choose the way up before the car park: these two routes start from two places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.

Compared	Coniston Old Man Round	The Coniston Horseshoe
Starts from	Coniston village	Walna Scar Road car park
Distance and climb	16.1 km, 1,155 m of climb	20.8 km, 1,333 m of climb
Time, fast to steady	~5–7 h	~6¼–8½ h
Scrambling	Hands for a few steps: the Prison Band, on the descent from Swirl How (km 9.6–11.5). A steep, stony scramble of a ridge linking Swirl How to Swirl Hawse and Wetherlam.	Hands for a few steps: the Prison Band, and the last steps to Dow Crag (km 6.2–8.1 and km 15.6–16.0). The short final climb to Dow Crag from Goat's Hawse has scrambly steps with moderate exposure — stay on the path and away from the edge.
Exposure	Moderate	Not assessed
Navigation	Hard	Hard
Steepest stretch	Climb of about 37% at 3.6 km (Severe)	Climb of about 31% at 7.8 km (Hard)
After the summit	Over Great Carrs, Swirl How and Wetherlam	Over Brim Fell, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Dow Crag, Buck Pike - Seathwaite Fell and Brown Pike
Walked or planned	Walked by Lee, August 2024	Walked in part; km 0.0–1.1, km 15.8–20.8 from the map
Car park at the start	Coniston Station car park (paid)	Walna Scar Road, Coniston (paid, rough track)
Bus to the start	505, 520 m walk from Coniston, outside The Ruskin Centre	505, 1.8 km walk from Coniston, outside The Ruskin Centre

Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.

Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →

Is Grey Friar hard?

Not for any single difficulty, but it is the awkward one of the Coniston fells. Grey Friar stands out on a limb from the main ridge, so every approach — Seathwaite, the Duddon, Wrynose — is rough and steep, the paths on it are indistinct, and the ground above Seathwaite Tarn is steep. Its appeal and its hazard are the same thing: it is out of the way.

Most walkers reach it as part of a long day. Our Coniston Old Man round is 16.1 km with 1155 m of ascent, rated Severe overall for its steepness; the full horseshoe is 20.8 km and 1333 m, which we grade severe for length. Both grade hard for navigation — the tops here are broad and the linking ground is easy to misread in cloud.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 773 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast

Tue 27 Oct

10° / 4°

57 mph

5.2 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

8° / 5°

48 mph

9.6 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

8° / 5°

22 mph

2.2 mm (67%)

Fri 30 Oct

7° / 4°

22 mph

0.0 mm (12%)

Sat 31 Oct

5° / 3°

4 mph

0.0 mm (8%)

Sun 1 Nov

8° / 2°

14 mph

0.3 mm (2%)

Mon 2 Nov

5° / 0°

9 mph

0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Grey Friar

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Coniston Station car park (paid) — at the start of Coniston Old Man Round

On the old station site, west of the village. Fees: pay and display; coins and cards; RingGo ID 37306 (LDNPA, checked August 2026).

Directions When people arrive, and what it costs →Something changed here?

If it is full: Coniston, Bluebird Car & Coach Park (paid) (0.6 km, 50 m up); Coniston, Ruskin Avenue (paid) (0.6 km, 52 m up); Walna Scar Road, Coniston (paid, rough track) (1.4 km)

Walna Scar Road, Coniston (paid, rough track) — at the start of The Coniston Horseshoe

High paid car park above Coniston — Old Man, Dow Crag, Brown Pike with a head start. Fees: pay and display; cards only; RingGo ID 37321 (LDNPA, checked August 2026).

Directions Something changed here?

Coniston Bridge (~1414 m straight line) Coniston Ruskin Avenue Car Park (~1569 m straight line)

Hard Knott (verge) — 1.9 km from summit (straight line)

1.7 km from Hard Knott.

Directions Something changed here?

4 more places to park near Grey Friar

Hard Knott car park — 2.3 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Hard Knott (1.2 km), Border End (1.3 km), Yew Bank (1.7 km). Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.

Directions Something changed here?

Hell Gill Pike (verge) — 2.4 km from summit (straight line)

0.9 km from Hell Gill Pike.

Directions Something changed here?

Demming Crag (layby) — 2.6 km from summit (straight line)

Beside the valley road at Birks Bridge, by the River Duddon, 70 m from the Forestry England car park. The nearest route start is the Goat Crag lay-by at the foot of Hardknott Pass ('Alternative Hardknott Round'), about 4.7 km on foot. Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged). Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.

Directions Something changed here?

Birks Bridge (FE) — 2.6 km from summit (straight line)

Forestry England's car park at Birks Bridge, beside the River Duddon in the forest above Seathwaite. The nearest route start is the Goat Crag lay-by at the foot of Hardknott Pass ('Alternative Hardknott Round'), about 4.7 km on foot. Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged). Donation (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate.

Of the pay-and-display machine tickets sold at Coniston Old Station from 17 August 2024 to 31 March 2026, 33% were bought before 10am (our count of FOI/2026.500 ticket data). Contains public sector information provided by the Lake District National Park Authority and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Vehicles are left at their owner’s risk: we list places people park and cannot vouch for any of them. Take valuables with you and leave nothing on show.

Buses

The 505 stops at Coniston, outside The Ruskin Centre, a 520 m walk and 39 m of ascent from the start of Coniston Old Man Round — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness). As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Kendal (505): Tuesday to Sunday 20:24. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 505 “Coniston Rambler”

Windermere – Ambleside – Skelwith Bridge – Hawkshead – Coniston

Catch it from: Windermere · Ambleside

Daily in season (reduced winter service). Best access for the Coniston fells (Old Man, Wetherlam group).

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on Grey Friar

Hazard & Incident Information for Grey Friar

Checked by Lee McCoy, 14 June 2026. Draws on published material from Coniston Mountain Rescue Team. Editorial background, not a live callout feed.

Hazard: Moderate

A rugged, out-on-a-limb fell set apart from the main Coniston ridge, with a stony twin-topped summit and rough, steep approaches from Seathwaite, the Duddon or Wrynose. Its appeal is its remoteness — but that, plus indistinct paths and steep ground above Seathwaite Tarn, is also its hazard. The link from the main ridge is easy to misjudge in cloud, and help is a long way off. Coniston Mountain Rescue Team covers this quiet corner.

Navigation to and from the summit in cloud: Grey Friar stands off the main ridge and its paths are faint; the ground between it and Swirl How is awkward, and one onward line from Swirl How appears to head straight over a cliff face. In mist it is easy to lose the route or drift onto steep ground. Navigate by compass and don't trust a vague trod.
Steep, rough flanks (Seathwaite Tarn / Duddon side): The fell falls away in rough, craggy, broken ground, particularly toward Seathwaite Tarn. A slip or a wrong line on these steep flanks can land you in difficult terrain. Keep to the higher, gentler ground and pick your descent carefully.
Remoteness: This is one of the least-visited Coniston fells, a long way from any road on the Duddon side. A minor injury or navigation error becomes serious simply because of how far you are from help. Carry full kit, navigation and a means of calling for assistance, and allow plenty of time.

Who should attempt this fell: Treat Grey Friar as a navigation fell: the paths are indistinct and the connection to the main ridge needs care in cloud, so be confident with map and compass. Keep to gentler ground on descent rather than dropping down the rough flanks, and plan for the remoteness — it is a long way from a road, so carry what you need and leave time to spare. Full winter skills if there is snow or ice.

What to watch for: Navigation errors on the faint paths and the link to the main ridge in cloud · Slips on the steep, rough flanks above Seathwaite Tarn · Difficulties compounded by remoteness and a long walk-out · Being caught out by failing light on rough ground

Local Mountain Rescue: Coniston Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab)

Safety: Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Report incorrect information (opens in new tab)

A note on Church Beck (with Red Dell Beck & Levers Water)

Church Beck (with Red Dell Beck & Levers Water) runs below the old Coniston copper mines and carries mine-derived copper and zinc — enough to matter for river life. In Environment Agency samples taken near our routes Coniston Old Man Round and The Coniston Horseshoe between 2009 and 2024, no sample put lead or cadmium, the metals that matter for people, above the drinking limit. That is a record of past sampling, not a test of the water today. Treat any hill water before drinking (an ordinary hiking filter won’t remove dissolved metals); don’t single this beck out as a clean fill-up.

What’s actually in this beck — we mapped every mine-fed one →

Metal-mine water data © Environment Agency (Open Government Licence v3.0).

Navigating in cloud

Not graded by the model

Our terrain model finds nothing to grade on this summit, so it gives no cloud grade here — that is not a sign of easy navigation. Read this fell’s hazard notes and the route pages before a day in cloud. Carry map and compass, and know how to use them.

In winter — snow, whiteout, cornices, buried features — every top demands full winter navigation skills whatever its band, and a broad, gentle summit can be the worst place of all. See walking in bad weather and the navigation guide.

How Grey Friar compares with all 214: the Clag Index (experimental).

If you need Mountain Rescue

Dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Before you call, have ready: where you are (a grid reference if you can – the OS Locate app shows yours on your phone), what has happened, how many of you there are, and your mobile number.

Then stay where you are until the rescue team contacts you.

If you cannot make a voice call because of a hearing or speech impairment, emergency SMS works only if you have registered first: text “register” to 999.

From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (opens in new tab) (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of Grey Friar

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

1.4 km ESEGreat How (Swirl Band)775 m · Southern

1.5 km NELittle Carrs692 m · Southern

1.6 km NEHell Gill Pike662 m · Southern

2.3 km EBlack Sails745 m · Southern

Routes over Grey Friar

The Coniston Horseshoe

Summits: Wetherlam Swirl How Great CarrsGrey FriarBrim Fell The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man)Dow Crag Buck Pike - Seathwaite Fell Brown Pike

Lee walked it Wetherlam-first, from Miners Bridge to Dow Crag; the start from the car park and the southern end over Buck Pike, Brown Pike and the Walna Scar Road finish are from the map — the full Coniston round over all the major tops, a long and serious mountain day. The trickiest navigation is the Grey Friar–Calf Cove–Levers Hawse traverse and the Lad Stones ground; carry OS Explorer OL6 and a compass for the clag.

Download GPX Walked in part, August 2024 · km 0.0–1.1, km 15.8–20.8 from the map

Warnings: Prison Band, the rocky climb from Swirl Hawse onto Swirl How, is steep and eroded with the ground falling away both sides — care needed in mist or wind. Dow Crag's summit sits above a serious east face over Goat's Water — keep slightly right (west) of the top as you climb south from Goat's Hawse and well back from the gullies and edge, especially in poor visibility. The Grey Friar → Calf Cove → Levers Hawse leg is largely pathless and the round's hardest navigation — careful map-and-compass work in clag. The short final climb to Dow Crag from Goat's Hawse has scrambly steps with moderate exposure — stay on the path and away from the edge. Great Carrs sits among a confusing tangle of high paths — Swirl How, the Prison Band, Wet Side Edge and Wrynose. In mist it is easy to take the wrong ridge or drift toward the eastern edge. Navigate by compass. Grey Friar stands off the main ridge and its paths are faint; the ground between it and Swirl How is awkward, and one onward line from Swirl How appears to head straight over a cliff face. In mist it is easy to lose the route or drift onto steep ground. Navigate by compass and don't trust a vague trod. Great Carrs: Right by the summit the ground drops suddenly in crags and steep scree into the Greenburn corrie — the aircraft memorial sits on this very brink. In wind or cloud keep well back from the edge; the flat top gives almost no warning before the drop.

From the hazard notes for Great Carrs, each with its sources.

Route guide: The Coniston Horseshoe →

Coniston Old Man Round

Summits: The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man)Brim FellGrey FriarGreat Carrs Swirl How Wetherlam

Download GPX Walked by Lee, August 2024

Best season: Any season in good conditions; rough and rocky, with old mine workings to keep clear of.

Warnings: Disused mine shafts and quarry spoil on the flanks, especially toward the Coppermines valley — keep to the paths. The high ridge is exposed and the broad tops need care in cloud. Grey Friar stands off the main ridge and its paths are faint; the ground between it and Swirl How is awkward, and one onward line from Swirl How appears to head straight over a cliff face. In mist it is easy to lose the route or drift onto steep ground. Navigate by compass and don't trust a vague trod. A steep, stony scramble of a ridge linking Swirl How to Swirl Hawse and Wetherlam. Awkward and tiring, especially descending, and parties are often caught out here at dusk. Allow plenty of daylight, take the rock carefully, and do not underestimate it as 'just a path'. The Coniston-facing side of Brim Fell is all crag, with a spur ending in the broken cliffs of Raven Tor. The rounded grassy top gives little sign of the edge — in mist or wind it is easy to drift east onto steep, dangerous ground. Keep to the crest and well back from the eastern rim.

Route guide: Coniston Old Man Round →

Every line here is a guide, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate for yourself and carry a map and compass. How to use this guide.

On the hill: terrain and water on Grey Friar

Water & shelter on the way up

On the The Coniston Horseshoe route:

shelter (weather shelter, mapped, not checked; 7 m off the line)

On the Coniston Old Man Round route:

The Ruskin Centre (321 m from the start, straight line) John Ruskin School (W bound) (345 m from the start, straight line) The Crown Inn (353 m from the start, straight line) The Crown Hotel (367 m from the start, straight line)

About Grey Friar

It stands off the main ridge, and every approach, Wrynose included, is rough and steep, on faint paths. Most commonly combined with Swirl How and Great Carrs as part of the Coniston ridge circuit. The summit moorland is boggy in places but the views more than compensate on a clear day.

Field notes

This is a wonderful place to rest on the Coniston circuit as it's less busy, has a great view over toward the Isle of Man and you can hide yourself away behind a rock - but you don't need to as it's a low traffic fell. I seem to prefer these quieter ones. Fells that aren't grand or imposing, just allows you to put your feet up and contemplate the madness of the world. Many looking for a grand day out may miss it, and if you're part of a large group then others may appreciate that, but if you're on your own, or as a couple, this is probably the one fell on the route that'd look forward to revisiting, and so should you.

— Lee McCoy, who walked it on 2 of our routes

My Strava hikes over Grey Friar

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Awesome trek up Wetherlam, Swirl How, Great Carrs, Grey Friars, Brim Fell, Dow Crag & Old Man of Coniston. (opens in new tab) — 19.2 km · 1417 m ascent · 5h 34m moving · 31 August 2024

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Grey Friar a Wainwright?

Grey Friar is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Nuttall list, the Fellranger list and the Hewitt list.

Selected lists

773 m

Height

2,536 ft

In feet

NY 2600 0036

Grid ref

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

The summit is also a Birkett.

Lists, height and summit position from the Database of British and Irish Hills; the feet are converted from its metres and the grid reference from that position. How we check →

The view from Grey Friar

The 360° skyline from Grey Friar

A computed 360° skyline — every visible named top labelled by distance and bearing, from the terrain model in perfect clarity, not photographed. Drag to pan; reveal the far four-nations horizon.

drag to pan · arrow keys

The skyline as a list, by direction

North: Crinkle Crags South Top (4 km), Crinkle Crags (5 km), Crinkle Crags (5 km), Crinkle Crags (5 km), Shelter Crags (5 km), Bowfell (6 km), Pike de Bield (7 km), Esk Pike (8 km), Great Dodd (22 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (27 km), Knowe Crags (27 km), Skiddaw Little Man (27 km), Gategill Fell Top (28 km), Blencathra (28 km), Skiddaw South Top (28 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (28 km), Skiddaw (29 km), Skiddaw North Top (29 km)
North-east: Fairfield (15 km), Dove Crag (15 km), Dollywaggon Pike (15 km), Hart Crag (15 km), High Crag (16 km), Nethermost Pike (16 km), Helvellyn (17 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (17 km), White Side (18 km), Raise (19 km), Stybarrow Dodd (20 km), Rampsgill Head (22 km), High Raise (23 km)
South-east: Brim Fell (2 km), The Old Man of Coniston (3 km)
North-west: Ill Crag (8 km), Scafell (8 km), Scafell Pike (8 km), Broad Crag (8 km), Great End (9 km), Pillar (15 km), Haycock (16 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (160 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (148 km, Wales), Aran Fawddwy (182 km, Wales), Snaefell (87 km, Isle of Man), Moel Siabod (156 km, Wales), Arenig Fawr (169 km, Wales), South Barrule (103 km, Isle of Man), Slieve Croob (184 km, Ireland).

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Grey Friar

Grey Friar sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (on 1 April) first light is only 7 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.

Midsummer. The filled shape is the skyline as seen from the summit; the line is the sun’s path. Where they meet is first light — everything left of that point is the wait.

Times for 2026, in Lakeland clock time (GMT in winter, BST in summer) — and model outputs rather than observations.
	First light	Almanac sunrise	Difference
Midsummer	04:38 BST ±5.0 min	04:38	—
Equinox	06:22 GMT ±5.0 min	06:16	+6 min
Midwinter	08:27 GMT ±5.0 min	08:32	-5 min

A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean 0.25°).

Last light — when the sun leaves Grey Friar

Grey Friar holds the light. On not one of the sixteen dates modelled does the sun leave this summit before almanac sunset — the ground falls away westward rather than standing over you, and at midsummer it is still in the sun 1 minutes after the valley has lost it.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
	Last light	Almanac sunset	Difference
Midsummer	21:53 BST ±5.0 min	21:52	+1 min
Equinox	18:32 GMT ±5.0 min	18:26	+6 min
Midwinter	15:58 GMT ±5.0 min	15:50	+8 min

These are daylight figures, not a descent plan: the light goes on fading for a good while after the sun leaves, and going down in it is a decision about your own ground and party, not about this table.

What you can see from Grey Friar

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.

69Wainwrights in view+24 marginal

160 kmFurthest sightlineSnowdon (Yr Wyddfa) · possible under favourable refraction

2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Morecambe Bay

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales and the Isle of Man.

Far horizons

Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) WalesSSW · 160 km clear
Carnedd Llewelyn WalesSSW · 144 km clear
Snaefell Isle of ManW · 87 km clear
Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesESE · 55 km clear
Cross Fell North PenninesNE · 54 km clear
Whernside Yorkshire DalesESE · 51 km clear
Irish Sea open waterWSW · 43 km in view
Morecambe Bay bay/estuarySSE · 27 km in view

All 69 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Great Carrs, Swirl How, Brim Fell, Dow Crag, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Wetherlam, Cold Pike, Hard Knott, Pike of Blisco, Harter Fell (Eskdale), Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Bowfell, Green Crag, Slight Side, Loft Crag, Pike of Stickle, Harrison Stickle, Esk Pike, Thunacar Knott, Pavey Ark, Scafell, Scafell Pike, Blea Rigg, Great End, Sergeant Man, Silver How, High Raise (High White Stones), Tarn Crag (Easedale), Glaramara, Illgill Head, Sergeant's Crag, Gibson Knott, Helm Crag, Whin Rigg (Wasdale), Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Heron Pike (Rydal), Stone Arthur, Middle Fell, Great Rigg, Seat Sandal, High Pike (Scandale), Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Seatallan, Pillar, Haycock, Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Caw Fell, High Seat, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick, Bleaberry Fell, Gray Crag, The Knott (High Street), Kentmere Pike, Rest Dodd, Clough Head, Tarn Crag (Sleddale), Latrigg, Lonscale Fell, Dodd (Skiddaw), Skiddaw Little Man, Carl Side, Long Side, Ullock Pike, Skiddaw, Knott, High Pike (Caldbeck)

How the view from Grey Friar compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed

Computed, not photographed. First light is the first minute the sun’s upper limb clears this summit’s own skyline and last light the last minute it is still clear of it, both solved against the 360° horizon profile behind The View from Grey Friar. Almanac sunrise and sunset are the flat-horizon convention. Every time carries a ± band from the 30 m elevation model — it smooths arêtes and cornices, so nothing here claims better than five minutes.

Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. Corrected for the Earth’s curvature and average atmospheric refraction. “Distant” sightlines and any over 100 km depend on exceptionally clear air. Modelled from Copernicus GLO-30 open elevation data — a guide to the view, not a guarantee of any single one.

Places to stay near this fell

Bank Ground Farm (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 2.7 km

Also nearby, but not independent

Coniston Holly How YHA (opens in new tab) hostelabout 1.7 km
YHA Coppermines (opens in new tab) hostelabout 1.6 km

We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).

Frequently asked questions about Grey Friar

Is Grey Friar hard? Answered above.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Grey Friar

Summit conditions on Grey Friar

Wind on the top

Cloud on the top

Routes up Grey Friar

Is Grey Friar hard?

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for Grey Friar

Parking

Buses

Hazards on Grey Friar

Hazard & Incident Information for Grey Friar

A note on Church Beck (with Red Dell Beck & Levers Water)

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of Grey Friar

Routes over Grey Friar

On the hill: terrain and water on Grey Friar

Water & shelter on the way up

About Grey Friar

Field notes

My Strava hikes over Grey Friar

Classifications & hill data

Is Grey Friar a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from Grey Friar

The 360° skyline from Grey Friar

Sunrise and sunset on Grey Friar

Last light — when the sun leaves Grey Friar

What you can see from Grey Friar

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about Grey Friar

Other fells near Grey Friar