High Crag (Grisedale)
High Crag at 884m (2,899ft) is a dramatic Birkett top on the ridge between Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon Pike above Grisedale in the Eastern Fells, its craggy character giving views into the wild upper Grisedale valley and across Ullswater.
Summit conditions on High Crag (Grisedale)
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 3°C, gusts to 57 mph, 20.1 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.
The forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →
Routes up High Crag (Grisedale)
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Helvellyn the steep way — 729 m of climbing inside the first 3.5 km at 21% average, before the ridge eases over Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon Pike and comes back over Seat Sandal.
Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →
How hard is High Crag (Grisedale)?
The shortest way up we hold is Helvellyn & Nethermost Pike via Seat Sandal — 15.66 km, 1182 m of ascent, ~5–7 h. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.
All axes: steepness: Severe · length: Hard · terrain: Hard · navigation: Hard · exposure: Hard.
These are the route page’s grades, set by the rules on how we grade: length and steepness measured from its GPX track, the others set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap. The route page says which. How we check →
Conditions and 7-day summit forecast
Modelled for the 884 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
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)
Parking & buses for High Crag (Grisedale)
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
2 more places to park near High Crag (Grisedale)
Positions are approximate.
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 555 stops at Thirlmere, at Swirls car park, a 280 m walk from the start of Helvellyn & Nethermost Pike via Seat Sandal — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness). Last bus: Monday to Friday 21:01 towards Keswick (555); Saturday 21:01 towards Keswick (555); Sunday 18:52 towards Keswick (555). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
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 High Crag (Grisedale)
Notes from the Helvellyn & Nethermost Pike via Seat Sandal route
- The path between Helvellyn and Dollywaggon skirts the top of steep cliffs falling to Nethermost and Ruthwaite Coves. It's a long way down — keep back from the eastern edge, especially in wind or cloud where the grassy top gives little warning of the drop.
If you need to get off (the leg from Nethermost Pike): Keep pressing forward; bailing west directly off the plateau here involves steep, pathless, and potentially dangerous craggy ground leading down into the Thirlmere forests.
Quoted from the route page: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches High Crag (Grisedale).
We have not written a hazard card for this fell yet, and that is not a sign that it is low-hazard. Read the warnings on the route pages that climb it, check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected. The National Park Authority’s What to pack page, AdventureSmart’s hill walking kit list and Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s safety page are linked from our what to carry guide.
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
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.
Birketts within 3 km of High Crag (Grisedale)
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over High Crag (Grisedale)
Download GPX Walked in part, July 2023 · km 0.4–2.8, km 7.8–9.5, km 10.7–12.0 from the map
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 High Crag (Grisedale)
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Helvellyn & Nethermost Pike via Seat Sandal route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
About High Crag (Grisedale)
My Strava hikes over High Crag (Grisedale)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- A few more Wainwrights in the wind and rain (opens in new tab) — 17.6 km · 1347 m ascent · 4h 27m moving · 16 July 2023
Data from Strava.
Classifications & hill data
Is High Crag (Grisedale) a Wainwright?
High Crag (Grisedale) is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.
Selected lists
This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.
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 →
Places to stay near this fell
- Dale Head Hall Lakeside Hotel (opens in new tab) hotelabout 0.7 km
- Fornside Farm Cottages (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 3.8 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).