Raven Crag
Raven Crag at 461m (1,512ft) is the dramatic cliff above Thirlmere, its great crag face one of the most impressive roadside crags in Lakeland.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 461 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 13° to 10°C, gusts to 21 mph, 0.6 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 461 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Raven Crag at a glance
Raven Crag
Routes up Raven Crag
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is Raven Crag a Wainwright?
Raven Crag is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.
My hikes over Raven Crag (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Why do you fall over more on easy hikes? (opens in new tab) — 11.8 km · 543 m ascent · 2h 45m moving · 7 Feb 2025
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for Raven Crag
Best parking to hike Raven Crag
Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).
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 Raven Crag by bus
The 555 stops at Stanah, at Dam road end. From there it is 1.2 km and 93 m of ascent to the start of Raven Crag Easy Walk — a walk in before the walk. Last bus: Monday to Friday 21:05 towards Keswick (555); Saturday 21:05 towards Keswick (555); Sunday 18:56 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.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Hazards on Raven 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.
Navigating Raven Crag in cloud
StraightforwardA broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. Navigation here is relatively straightforward even in cloud — but carry map and compass and know how to use them; a low score never means “safe”.
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 Raven Crag compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Raven Crag car park, about 0.4 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Raven 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.
Routes over Raven Crag
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
The view from Raven Crag
The 360° skyline from Raven Crag
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.
What you can see from Raven Crag, by direction
- North: Knowe Crags (8 km), Lonscale Fell (9 km), Gategill Fell Top (9 km), Lonscale Pike (9 km), Blencathra (9 km), Jenkin Hill (9 km), Doddick Fell (9 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (10 km), Skiddaw Little Man (10 km), Skiddaw North Top (11 km), Great Calva (12 km), Knott (14 km)
- North-east: Great Dodd (4 km), Clough Head (5 km)
- East: Watson's Dodd (3 km), Stybarrow Dodd (4 km), Raise (4 km)
- South-east: White Side (4 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (5 km), Seat Sandal (8 km)
- South: Shelter Crags (14 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (15 km)
- South-west: Glaramara (10 km), Looking Steads (10 km), Great Gable (12 km), Great End (13 km), Esk Pike (13 km), Bowfell (14 km), Ill Crag (14 km), Lingmell (14 km), Scafell Pike (14 km)
- North-west: Carl Side (10 km), Skiddaw South Top (11 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (11 km), Long Side (11 km), Skiddaw (11 km)
Computed from terrain in perfect clarity, not photographed · distances are straight-line.
Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.
Sunrise and sunset on Raven Crag
Raven Crag waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 December, when the sun is up for 51 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 09:02 against an almanac sunrise of 08:11. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the south-east from here (139.0°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 4.86°.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 05:07 BST ±5.0 min | 04:36 | +31 min |
| Equinox | 06:50 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:15 | +35 min |
| Midwinter | 09:19 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:33 | +46 min |
The northern horizon stands at about 1.29° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves Raven Crag
Raven Crag loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls on 1 September, when last light is 33 minutes before almanac sunset — 19:32 against 20:05. The sun goes down to the west from here (278.7°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 4.19°.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:30 BST ±5.0 min | 21:53 | -23 min |
| Equinox | 17:57 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:26 | -29 min |
| Midwinter | 15:35 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -14 min |
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 Raven Crag. 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. 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.
Raven Crag is one of our picked Lake District viewpoints — what you can see from it, when the light is best, and where to park.
What you can see from Raven Crag
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland.
- Criffel Scotland
All 37 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
High Seat, Bleaberry Fell, High Tove, Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), Watson's Dodd, High Rigg (Naddle Fell), White Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Great Dodd, Clough Head, Latrigg, Ullscarf, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Sergeant's Crag, Seat Sandal, Lonscale Fell, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Skiddaw Little Man, Glaramara, Dodd (Skiddaw), Carl Side, Long Side, Skiddaw, Ullock Pike, Souther Fell, Rossett Pike, Great Gable, Great Calva, Great End, Esk Pike, Bowfell, Lingmell, Knott, Loughrigg Fell, Scafell Pike, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle)
How Raven Crag’s view compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.
Sightlines from a bare-earth terrain model (forests and buildings not included), 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
From Legburthwaite: 3 places in Keswick
Frequently asked questions about Raven Crag
Is Raven Crag a hard walk?
Short but steep — the honest pairing. From the foot of Thirlmere it's only about a mile to the top, but the forest path gains its height quickly and the final section is stepped. At 461 m (1,512 ft) it's one of the quickest Wainwright summits to reach — and the crag-top viewpoint straight down the length of Thirlmere is among the best short-walk rewards in the district.
Where do you park for Raven Crag?
The car park by Thirlmere dam, at the lake's northern end (reached by the minor road down the western shore) — the path starts almost opposite. It's small and popular; on summer evenings, when the viewpoint is at its best, arrive with a fallback in mind.
How long does Raven Crag take, and is it good for children and dogs?
About 1.5–2 hours up and down. It's a good adventurous short walk for children who manage steps and steady climbing — but the summit is the top of a genuine crag: keep children and dogs well back from the viewpoint edge. The forest sections are enclosed and dog-friendly; leads at the top.
Is Raven Crag busy?
It can be, in a small-scale way: the walk is short, the car park is small, and the viewpoint ledge holds only a handful of people, so sunny evenings and weekend middays see queues for the view. Early morning is the quiet time — and midweek it's often deserted. Pairing it with High Rigg or Castle Crag (Shoulthwaite) next door makes a fuller, quieter outing. How busy a fell feels tracks how many people are looking for it in the first place.
Is this the Raven Crag people scramble and climb on?
Different crags — Lakeland has several Raven Crags. This page is the Thirlmere Wainwright, a walkers' summit. The scramble is Raven Crag, Yewdale (near Coniston), and the famous rock climbs (Corvus, and the Langdale routes) are on other Raven Crags again — climbers' ground, not part of this walk.
Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-07-27 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)
Other fells near Raven Crag
- Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)
- Blea Rigg
- Bleaberry Fell
- Calf Crag
- Eagle Crag
- Gibson Knott
- Grange Fell (Brund Fell)
- Great Crag (Stonethwaite)
- Harrison Stickle
- Helm Crag
- High Raise (High White Stones)
- High Rigg (Naddle Fell)
- High Seat
- High Tove
- Loft Crag
- Loughrigg Fell
- Pavey Ark
- Pike of Stickle
- Sergeant Man
- Sergeant's Crag
- Silver How
- Steel Fell (Dead Pike)
- Tarn Crag (Easedale)
- Thunacar Knott
- Ullscarf
- Walla Crag