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.
Summit conditions on Middle Crag
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 56 mph, 12.5 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 Middle Crag
All three start from Dob Gill, Thirlmere (closed); nearest: Steel End, Thirlmere (paid), about 1.3 km on foot; the last two rows give its parking and bus. Full maps further down.
| Compared | Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth | Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn | Birketts West of Thirlmere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starts from | Dob Gill, Thirlmere | Dob Gill, Thirlmere | Dob Gill, Thirlmere |
| Distance and climb | 14.26 km, 601 m of climb | 13.49 km, 509 m of climb | 23.11 km, 1,241 m of climb |
| Time, fast to steady | ~3¾–5¼ h | ~3½–4¾ h | ~6½–9 h |
| Scrambling | Not mentioned in the route’s notes | Not mentioned in the route’s notes | Not mentioned in the route’s notes |
| Exposure | Moderate | Not assessed | Not assessed |
| Navigation | Hard | Hard | Moderate |
| Steepest stretch | Descent of about 24% at 9.5 km (Moderate) | Descent of about 25% at 8.9 km (Moderate) | Climb of about 29% at 0.8 km (Hard) |
| After the summit | Over High Tove, Armboth Fell (Birkett) and Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top) | Over High Tove | Over High Tove and Fisher Crag |
| Walked or planned | Not yet personally walked | Planned: drawn, not yet walked | Planned: drawn, not yet walked |
| Car park at the start | Dob Gill, Thirlmere (closed); nearest: Steel End, Thirlmere (paid), about 1.3 km on foot | Dob Gill, Thirlmere (closed); nearest: Steel End, Thirlmere (paid), about 1.3 km on foot | Dob Gill, Thirlmere (closed); nearest: Steel End, Thirlmere (paid), about 1.3 km on foot |
| Bus to the start | 555, 1.7 km walk from Thirlmere, at Armboth turn | 555, 1.8 km walk from Thirlmere, at Armboth turn | 555, 1.8 km walk from Thirlmere, at Armboth turn |
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 →
How hard is Middle Crag?
The shortest way up we hold is Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn — 13.49 km, 509 m of ascent, ~3½–4¾ h. On our scale its hardest axes are terrain and navigation — Hard.
All axes: terrain: Hard · navigation: Hard · length: Moderate · steepness: Moderate · 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 484 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 Middle Crag
Parking
Ranked by straight-line distance to the summit, which is not the same thing as the start of a way up. Choose the ascent first: Routes up Middle Crag gives each route’s own car park and bus.
2 more places to park near Middle Crag
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 Armboth turn. From there it is 1.8 km and 54 m of ascent to the start of Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: terrain and navigation) — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 17.0 km in all, with 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; 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 Middle Crag
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Birketts West of Thirlmere
If you need to get off (the leg from Shivery Knott): As with the previous tops, do not try to bail east from here; the ways this guide describes are on to High Tove or back the way you came; no way down to Watendlath from here has been checked.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: the note for the leg that reaches Middle Crag.
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 Middle Crag
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Middle Crag
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
Download GPX Not yet personally walked
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 Middle Crag
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Birketts West of Thirlmere route:
On the Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn route:
On the Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth route:
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, and turn back if you find none: fences are working boundaries and take real damage from climbers.
Local restrictions can close open-access areas temporarily — check the official open-access information (opens in new tab) before travelling.
How we worked out the access
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 26 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 377 fells.
Access land: © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
About Middle Crag
Classifications & hill data
Is Middle Crag a Wainwright?
Middle Crag 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 3.5 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).