Honister Crag (Black Star)
At 634 m (2,080 ft), Honister Crag (Black Star) is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells) in the Western Fells.
Summit conditions on Honister Crag (Black Star)
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 11° to 5°C, gusts to 62 mph, 11.7 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 Honister Crag (Black Star)
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Straight up from the Honister pass — Honister Crag, Fleetwith Pike, Brandreth and Grey Knotts in 9.3 km with 629 m of climbing. Short but hard for steepness, with one stage averaging 15%. About 2¾–4 hours.
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 Honister Crag (Black Star)?
The shortest way up we hold is Black Star Brandreth and others — 9.29 km, 629 m of ascent, ~2¾–4 h. On our scale its hardest axes are steepness and navigation — Hard.
All axes: steepness: Hard · navigation: Hard · length: Moderate · terrain: Not assessed · exposure: Not assessed.
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 634 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 27 October 2026, 08:13 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Honister Crag (Black Star)
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
2 more places to park near Honister Crag (Black Star)
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 77 stops at Honister Youth Hostel (near), a 190 m walk from the start of Black Star Brandreth and others — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: steepness and navigation). Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. It returns on 22 March 2027. Confirmed with the operator: its last day on 29 August 2026, its return on 16 October 2026. The last bus is 18:33 towards Keswick (77), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 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 Honister Crag (Black Star)
Notes from the Black Star Brandreth and others route
If you need to get off (the leg from the start): Turn around and carefully descend the quarry track directly back to the Honister Pass car park.
Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches Honister Crag (Black Star).
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 Honister Crag (Black Star)
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Honister Crag (Black Star)
Download GPX Walked in part, April 2026 · km 1.1–2.2, km 5.9–6.9 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 Honister Crag (Black Star)
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Black Star Brandreth and others route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
About Honister Crag (Black Star)
Classifications & hill data
Is Honister Crag (Black Star) a Wainwright?
Honister Crag (Black Star) is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Nuttall 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 →