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484 m · Birkett — Central (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Central (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Middle Crag

Middle Crag at 484m (1,588ft) is a Birkett top on the rough fell above the Thirlmere reservoir in the Central Fells, its rocky character giving views across the long lake and towards the Helvellyn range.

484 m
Height
+9
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →

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484 mBirkett — Central (not a Wainwright summit)+9 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 484 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 15° to 8°C, gusts to 39 mph, 18.6 mm of rain forecast.

Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
15° / 8°
💨 39 mph
🌧 18.6 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
🌦️
14° / 9°
💨 13 mph
🌧 0.2 mm (12%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌦️
16° / 12°
💨 36 mph
🌧 3.8 mm (100%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌧️
15° / 10°
💨 37 mph
🌧 10.6 mm (98%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
11° / 9°
💨 27 mph
🌧 4.1 mm (54%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌧️
11° / 9°
💨 35 mph
🌧 16.8 mm (97%)
Fri 18 Sep
🌧️
12° / 9°
💨 37 mph
🌧 13.8 mm (92%)

Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 18:50 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 484 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Middle Crag at a glance

Middle Crag

Middle Crag at 484m (1,588ft) is a Birkett top on the rough fell above the Thirlmere reservoir in the Central Fells, its rocky character giving views across the long lake and towards the Helvellyn range. Part of the fell country between Armboth and Wythburn. A quiet summit above the rarely visited western shore of Thirlmere.

Routes up Middle Crag

Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.

Birketts West of Thirlmere
23.1 km · ~6.4 hr
Ten tops on the rough ground west of Thirlmere — Wythburn Fell, Standing Crag and the Coldbarrow Fell saddles among them — in 23.1 km with 1,047 m of climbing and nothing steeper than about 10%. Severe for length; roughly 6.4 hours.
Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn
13.5 km · ~3.5 hr
Four tops on the boggy watershed above Thirlmere — Brown Rigg, Shivery Knott, Middle Crag and High Tove — in 13.5 km with 481 m of climbing. Rated hard to navigate, which is the whole character of this ground. About 3.5 hours.
Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth
14.3 km · ~3.8 hr
Six tops on the wet watershed between Thirlmere and Borrowdale — Standing Crag, Shivery Knott, Middle Crag, High Tove and Armboth Fell. 14.3 km and 545 m, rated hard for length, steepness and navigation. About 3.8 hours.

Classifications & hill data

Birkett
Synge
484 m
Height
1,588 ft
In feet
NY 2879 1580
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Middle Crag a Wainwright?

Middle Crag is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Where do you park for Middle Crag?

The nearest car park we hold is Watendlath (NT, paid), about 1.3 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Fisher Crag (verge), 2.1 km out. We only look within 2.5 km, measured straight-line: over longer distances a road may cross a pass and the drive bears no relation to the line.

How hard is Middle Crag?

The shortest way up we hold is Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn — 13.5 km, 481 m of ascent, about 3.5 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is navigation — Hard.

All axes: navigation: Hard · steepness: Hard · exposure: Moderate · length: Moderate · terrain: Moderate.

Parking & buses for Middle Crag

Best parking to hike Middle Crag

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Watendlath (NT, paid) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)
End of the narrow Watendlath road — Grange Fell, Great Crag, Armboth fells. Fees: pay and display (LDNP directory, checked Aug 2026). £7 up to 2 hours; £8 up to 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked Aug 2026). Free for NT members (checked Aug 2026). Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; JustPark app at some car parks; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
Fisher Crag (verge) — 2.1 km from summit (straight line)
0.4 km from Fisher Crag.
Directions Something changed here?
Fisher Crag (layby, north) — 2.1 km from summit (straight line)
0.6 km from Fisher Crag.
Directions Something changed here?
Fisher Crag (layby, south) — 2.2 km from summit (straight line)
0.7 km from Fisher Crag.
Directions Something changed here?
Armboth, Thirlmere (United Utilities, paid) — 2.2 km from summit (straight line)
West shore of Thirlmere - Armboth Fell and High Tove. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked Aug 2026). Pay and display (visitlakedistrict.com, which names United Utilities as operator) (United Utilities, checked Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate — zoom the map to confirm. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.

Tip: pan and zoom the interactive map at the top of this page to spot other potential parking near your route.

Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.

Getting to Middle Crag by bus

The 555 stops at Thirlmere, at Armboth turn. From there it is 1.8 km and 54 m of ascent to the start of Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn — a walk in before the walk. Last bus: Monday to Friday 20:55 towards Keswick (555); Saturday 20:55 towards Keswick (555); Sunday 18:46 towards Keswick (555). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 555
Kendal – Staveley – Windermere – Ambleside – Rydal – Grasmere – Thirlmere (Wythburn & Swirls) – Keswick
Catch it from: Windermere · Ambleside
Year-round, roughly hourly. The backbone bus of the A591 — ideal for Helvellyn (Wythburn/Swirls), Fairfield, the Central fells and anything around Grasmere/Rydal. From Penrith, take the X4/X5 to Keswick and change.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Hazards on Middle Crag

No hazard card for this fell. The usual open-fell rules apply: check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected.

Map & nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Watendlath (NT, paid), about 1.3 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Middle Crag (within 3 km)

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits — detour to them on this walk and they are pure profit. Distances are straight-line; allow extra for terrain.

0.5 km SSEShivery Knott491 m · Central
0.9 km ENEArmboth Fell (Birkett)479 m · Central
0.9 km SWatendlath Fell (Long Moss)515 m · Central
1.8 km ENEFisher Crag421 m · Central
1.8 km SEBell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)559 m · Central
2.1 km SEBrown Rigg462 m · Central
2.5 km SLow Saddle656 m · Central
2.6 km SSEStanding Crag611 m · Central
2.9 km SColdbarrow Fell - High Saddle675 m · Central

Routes over Middle Crag

Birketts West of ThirlmerePlanned
23.11 km · ~1047 m ascent · loop · ~6–8.5 h
Summits: Wythburn FellStanding CragColdbarrow Fell - High SaddleLow SaddleBell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)Watendlath Fell (Long Moss)Shivery KnottMiddle CragHigh ToveFisher Crag

⬇️ Download GPX

⚠️ Warnings: Access: The summit of Fisher Crag lies outside mapped CRoW open-access land. That records no statutory right of access — it is not a statement that access is forbidden, and permissive access is not recorded in that layer. This line is computed rather than walked, so treat the access as unchecked and look for the courteous way through — how we work this out.

Full route guide ↗

✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet.

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

Brown Rigg & Blea TarnPlanned
13.49 km · ~481 m ascent · loop · ~3.5–4.5 h
Summits: Brown RiggShivery KnottMiddle CragHigh Tove

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet.

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

Standing Crag, High Tove, ArmbothLive
14.26 km · ~545 m ascent · loop · ~3.5–5 h
Summits: Standing CragShivery KnottMiddle CragHigh ToveArmboth Fell (Birkett)Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

On the hill: terrain and water on Middle Crag

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Birketts West of Thirlmere route:

🚺 map (29 m)

On the Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn route:

🚺 map (52 m)

On the Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth route:

🚺 map (29 m)

On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.

Access on Middle Crag

Access: summit and direct approach lie within mapped open-access land (CRoW). The usual access-land conditions apply.

Walls & fences: the approach crosses a fence. No stile or gate is mapped within 150 m of the crossing — that’s a statement about the map, not the fence, which may well have one. Expect to walk the fence to find a crossing rather than climbing it: dry-stone walls are working boundaries and take real damage from climbers.

Local restrictions can close open-access areas temporarily — check the official open-access information before travelling.

How we worked this out

Summit and approach positions are tested against Natural England’s CRoW Act 2000 access layer; rights of way and wall or fence detail come from OpenStreetMap. Both are open datasets with known gaps — in our own survey only 4 of 23 wall and fence crossings had a stile or gate mapped within 150 m — so absence of a mapped feature never means absence of a real one. Nothing here is field-verified unless marked, and none of it is legal advice. How we checked 378 fells.

Places to stay near this fell

Dale Head Hall Lakeside Hotel hotel

about 3.5 km from the start, in a straight line

It is the only property in this cluster whose own site answers a family question. The rooms page names sixteen rooms, numbered Room 2 to Room 17, and states the floor for each: rooms 10, 11, 12 and 13 are ground floor, and of those, Room 10 ("This room can accommodate two extra single beds for a family") and Room 11 ("This room can accommodate one extra bed for families and can be made as a twin") take extra beds - so a party with children and someone who cannot face stairs can be housed in one room without phoning first. Room 11 and Room 12 also state "Private patio space"; Room 10 does not. Against that, the site is silent on everything a wet walker asks - see unknowns - so this is a good family bed and an unproven walking one.

The hotel's grounds are inside a designated red squirrel reserve, and rather than lean on its postcode it publishes its front door as a what3words address, CRACKS.DIAMOND.RESPECTED.

  • Family rooms “A warm, traditionally designed family room, with one double and two single beds.”
  • Evening meal “Why not enjoy a trip out to nearby Keswick for the day before coming back and enjoying a delicious bar meal.”
  • Children “This room can accommodate two extra single beds for a family.”

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap.

Other fells near Middle Crag