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841 m · Wainwright — Eastern Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

St Sunday Crag - a snow-covered summit looking across to a panorama of snow-capped fells under a bright blue sky
Wainwright — Eastern FellsAlso a Birkett

St Sunday Crag

St Sunday Crag at 841m (2,759ft) is the great isolated pyramid above Patterdale, separated from the Helvellyn ridge by the deep trench of Grisedale.

841 m
Height
~3.5–4.5 h
Typical time
+4
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › St Sunday Crag

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

841 mWainwright — Eastern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+4 bonus Birketts within 3 km Straightforward in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 841 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 14° to 12°C, gusts to 38 mph, 8.4 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
14° / 12°
💨 38 mph
🌧 8.4 mm (100%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
14° / 10°
💨 31 mph
🌧 5.1 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
12° / 3°
💨 27 mph
🌧 1.1 mm (78%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
13° / 1°
💨 24 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (78%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
13° / 2°
💨 15 mph
🌧 3.0 mm (54%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
14° / 3°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
14° / 3°
💨 12 mph
🌧 0.2 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 841 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

About the walk

Key information

St Sunday Crag

St Sunday Crag - a snow-covered summit looking across to a panorama of snow-capped fells under a bright blue sky
© Lee McCoy

St Sunday Crag at 841m (2,759ft) is the great isolated pyramid above Patterdale, separated from the Helvellyn ridge by the deep trench of Grisedale. Wainwright described it as one of the finest viewpoints in the Eastern Fells, its summit giving an unequalled prospect of the Helvellyn range, Ullswater and the Fairfield horseshoe. The classic ridge approach from Patterdale via Birks is excellent walking throughout. The views back to Helvellyn across Grisedale, and north along Ullswater, are among the most striking in Lakeland. A deservedly popular summit that rewards its independence from the main ridge.

🗒️ My notes
Many of us will have those fells that just stick with them for a long while - before and after we summit them. St Sunday Crag is one of those Wainwrights. On my first adventure in the Lakes I bottled it. Having summited Fairfield I was supposed to traverse Cofra Pike but turned back as I was exhausted. I had been doing many Yorkshire Three Peaks challenges over the years and was used to digging deep, but that Birkett beat me. All the routes I was planning included Cofra and prevented me from summitting St Sunday in any circular fashion until the end of January 2025 when I did it as a pseudo out-and-back that also included Arnison Crag and Birks. On my route in the map bellow you can see that I made an unexpected diversion to the south side of the route which would have taken me to Gravel Pike. As I didn't consider Birketts then I missed out, but in the snow that route wasn't great as it was deep. As I eventually made it back on track a guy said to me "what were you doing down there?" It was the humour I needed to diffuse the frustration I had. The snow atop St. Sunday Crag then was light and wispy, but the view, as you can see from my photo was glorious. I've had few better days out in the fells than this.

Routes up St Sunday Crag

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

St Sunday Crag
10 km · ~3.3 hr
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Eastern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Nuttall
Marilyn
841 m
Height
2,759 ft
In feet
NY 3691 1339
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Patterdale (paid), about 3.3 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near St Sunday 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.

0.4 km EGavel Pike784 m · Eastern
1.7 km SWCofa Pike823 m · Eastern
2.5 km ESEGale Crag512 m · Eastern
2.6 km WHigh Crag (Grisedale)884 m · Eastern

Routes over St Sunday Crag

St Sunday CragRevised
9.96 km · ~782 m ascent · loop · ~3–4.5 h
Summits: Arnison CragBirksSt Sunday CragGavel Pike

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

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

The View from St Sunday 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.

drag to pan · arrow keys
Computed 360-degree skyline from St Sunday Crag36 labelled tops shown (12 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWScafell Pike · 17 kmBowfell · 14 kmGreat Gable · 16 kmPillar · 20 kmNethermost Pike · 3 kmRaise · 5 kmFairfield · 2 kmBlencathra · 15 kmWhite Side · 4 kmCrinkle Crags · 15 kmStybarrow Dodd · 6 kmHigh Street · 8 kmHart Crag · 2 kmHigh Raise · 8 kmThornthwaite Crag · 7 kmKidsty Pike · 8 kmRed Screes · 5 kmRed Beck Top · 13 kmPike of Blisco · 13 kmBowscale Fell · 18 kmCross Fell · 38 km · clear daysHelvellyn · 3 kmHigh Crag · 3 kmCofa Pike · 2 kmDove Crag · 3 kmStony Cove Pike · 6 kmBirkett Fell · 6 kmRed Crag · 8 kmYoke · 10 kmLoadpot Hill · 10 kmWether Hill · 9 kmPlace Fell · 5 kmMiddle Dodd · 5 kmHeron Pike · 4 kmWard's Stone · 59 km · clear daysThe Knight · 6 kmGreat Dodd · 8 kmHaycock · 23 kmHarter Fell · 10 kmLittle Stand · 16 kmCarrock Fell · 20 kmHaystacks · 18 kmCatstye Cam · 3 kmBuck Barrow · 31 km · clear daysGavel Pike · 0 kmIll Bell · 9 kmPike of Stickle · 11 kmSheffield Pike · 5 kmSelside Pike · 12 kmHare Stones · 22 kmBirks · 2 kmHartsop Dodd · 4 kmThe Nab · 7 kmSwineside Knott · 6 kmSwarth Fell · 10 kmGreat Mell Fell · 12 kmArthur's Pike · 12 kmHigh Hartsop Dodd · 4 kmBirk Fell · 6 kmLittle Mell Fell · 12 kmRound How · 8 kmGreat Knoutberry Hill · 50 km · clear daysFair Snape Fell · 70 km · clear daysGummer's How · 25 kmWhitbarrow · 27 kmThe Cheviot · 120 km · a rare clear dayPendle Hill · 84 km · a rare clear dayMoel y Gamelin · 168 km · a handful of days a yearWhite Coomb · 104 km · a rare clear daySighty Crag · 71 km · a rare clear dayGreat Whernside · 75 km · a rare clear dayWisp Hill · 86 km · a rare clear dayDun Rig · 119 km · a rare clear dayWinter Hill · 103 km · a rare clear dayBlackwood Hill · 84 km · a rare clear dayFoel Cedig · 189 km · a handful of days a yearBillinge Hill · 113 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from St Sunday Crag, by direction
  • North: Great Dodd (8 km), Blencathra (15 km), Atkinson Pike (16 km)
  • East: Rampsgill Head (7 km), High Street (8 km), High Raise (8 km), Kidsty Pike (8 km)
  • South-east: Red Screes (5 km), Thornthwaite Crag (7 km), Harter Fell (10 km)
  • South: Hart Crag (2 km)
  • South-west: Fairfield (2 km), Bowfell (14 km), Shelter Crags (14 km), Esk Pike (14 km), Crinkle Crags (14 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (15 km), Stonesty Pike (15 km), Scafell (18 km)
  • West: Nethermost Pike (3 km), Glaramara (13 km), Looking Steads (13 km), Great End (15 km), Ill Crag (16 km), Great Gable (16 km), Broad Crag (16 km), Scafell Pike (17 km), Pillar (20 km), Pillar Rock (20 km), Black Crag (20 km), Scoat Fell (21 km), Steeple (21 km), Haycock (23 km)
  • North-west: White Side (4 km), Raise (5 km), Stybarrow Dodd (6 km), Knowe Crags (15 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: The Cheviot (120 km, England), Pendle Hill (84 km, England), Moel y Gamelin (168 km, Wales), White Coomb (104 km, Scotland), Ettrick Pen (96 km, Scotland), Culter Fell (120 km, Scotland), Cadair Berwyn (184 km, Wales), Boulsworth Hill (96 km, England).

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 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

What you can see from St Sunday Crag

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
77Wainwrights in view+9 marginal
55 kmFurthest sightlineIngleborough
1Sea in viewMorecambe Bay
Far horizons
  • Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesSE · 55 km clear
  • Whernside Yorkshire DalesSE · 48 km clear
  • Great Dun Fell North PenninesENE · 39 km clear
  • Morecambe Bay bay/estuaryS · 39 km in view
  • Cross Fell North PenninesENE · 38 km clear
All 77 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Birks, Fairfield, Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag - Hartsop Above How), Hart Crag, Dollywaggon Pike, Birkhouse Moor, Nethermost Pike, Arnison Crag, Seat Sandal, Helvellyn, Catstye Cam, High Hartsop Dodd, Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top), Glenridding Dodd, White Side, Hartsop Dodd, Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top), Middle Dodd, Raise, Sheffield Pike, Brock Crags (Wainwright), Place Fell, Red Screes, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Stybarrow Dodd, Gray Crag, Rest Dodd, Hart Side, The Knott (High Street), The Nab, Thornthwaite Crag, Beda Fell (Beda Head), Rampsgill Head, Calf Crag, Great Dodd, Tarn Crag (Easedale), High Raise (High Street), Froswick, Steel Knotts (Pikeawassa - Steel Knotts), Blea Rigg, Ill Bell, Wether Hill, Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit), Sergeant Man, Yoke, Harter Fell (Mardale), Loadpot Hill, Pavey Ark, Thunacar Knott, Harrison Stickle, Bonscale Pike, Kentmere Pike, Pike of Stickle, Sallows, Arthur's Pike, Little Mell Fell, Selside Pike, Great Mell Fell, Glaramara, Pike of Blisco, Allen Crags, Bowfell, Cold Pike, Esk Pike, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Great End, Bannerdale Crags, Great Gable, Scafell Pike, Bowscale Fell, Scafell, Pillar, Harter Fell (Eskdale), Carrock Fell, Steeple, High Pike (Caldbeck)

How St Sunday 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.

Best parking to hike St Sunday Crag

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

Patterdale (paid) — 3.3 km from summit (straight line)
For Place Fell, St Sunday Crag, the Grisedale fells.
Directions
🚺 Public toilets (176m) — Free🚺 Public toilets (1579m)🍺 White Lion Inn🍺 Patterdale Hotel
Cow Bridge, Hartsop (free) — 3.4 km from summit (straight line)
Free car park by Brothers Water — Hartsop above How, Dovedale, Caudale Moor.
Directions

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.

Water & shelter on the way up

On the St Sunday Crag route:

🚌 Patterdale Hotel (E bound) (12 m)🚌 Patterdale Hotel (W bound) (32 m)🚌 Youth Hostel (N bound) (462 m)🚌 Youth Hostel (S bound) (468 m)⛺ Patterdale Youth Hostel (486 m)

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

Buses to St Sunday Crag from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Stagecoach 508 “Ullswater Bus”
Penrith – Pooley Bridge – Aira Force – Glenridding – Patterdale (summer services continue over Kirkstone Pass to Troutbeck and Windermere)
Catch it from: Penrith · Windermere (summer only)
The key route from Penrith for the Eastern and Far Eastern fells: Helvellyn from Glenridding, Place Fell, the Hartsop fells. The summer Kirkstone extension drops you at the pass for Red Screes and Caudale Moor.

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

My hikes over St Sunday Crag (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Hazard & Incident Information for St Sunday Crag

Hazard: Moderate

A fine, steep-sided fell above Patterdale. The walkers' route is straightforward, but two things draw Patterdale MRT here: Pinnacle Ridge — a serious grade 3 scramble where parties get cragfast (and which has seen winter avalanche incidents) — and walkers losing the path in mist and straying onto the steep, craggy Grisedale face.

  • Pinnacle Ridge: A genuine grade 3 scramble, much harder and more serious than it looks from below; parties regularly get cragfast on it. For experienced scramblers in good conditions only — and a serious winter proposition.
  • Grisedale face in poor visibility: In mist it is easy to lose the path and drift onto steep craggy ground above Grisedale. Carry map and compass and hold your line on the descent.
Who should attempt this fell: The ordinary ascent from Patterdale or over Birks is a fine walk for any fit hillwalker. Pinnacle Ridge is a different matter — a committing scramble best left to experienced parties. Take care with navigation on the Grisedale side when cloud is down.

Most common causes: Scramblers cragfast on Pinnacle Ridge · Navigation errors onto steep ground in mist · Winter incidents on the ridge

Local Mountain Rescue: Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team · Reviewed 13 Jun 2026

Safety: Hazard guidance compiled from published Mountain Rescue reports and well-documented accident history - editorial background, not a live feed of callouts. Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Report incorrect information

Navigating St Sunday Crag in cloud

Straightforward

A rough, rocky summit ringed by crags, with no single obvious way off in poor visibility. 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 St Sunday Crag compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Frequently asked questions about St Sunday Crag

Is St Sunday Crag hard to climb?

By its normal walkers' route, no — it's a steep but straightforward climb on clear paths with no scrambling, to a fine 841 m (2,759 ft) summit above Ullswater. The effort is the sustained ascent rather than any difficulty.

Its reputation for being 'hard' comes from Pinnacle Ridge, a serious Grade 3 scramble on the fell's flank — a completely separate, expert undertaking (see below), not the way most people go up.

Sources: Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team

What is the normal (walkers') route up St Sunday Crag?

From Patterdale, the usual line climbs via Thornhow End onto the broad north-east ridge and up to the summit — a steady, clear path with no scrambling. It's often combined with Birks, or descended to Grisedale to make a round.

Keep to the ridge: the flanks dropping to Grisedale are steep and broken, and should not be used as a descent.

Sources: Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team

How long does it take to climb St Sunday Crag?

Allow around 4–5 hours for a round from Patterdale — roughly 10 km (about 6 miles) — depending on whether you include Birks and how you return. The approach up Grisedale takes 45–60 minutes before the real climb begins.

Sources: Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team

What is Pinnacle Ridge, and should I attempt it?

Pinnacle Ridge is a classic but serious Grade 3 scramble up St Sunday Crag's north face — exposed, with vertical rock, a crux groove rated as a Moderate rock climb (harder when greasy), and a real risk of a serious fall. Many parties use a rope and protection on the crux.

It's for experienced scramblers and climbers only, never solo, and only in calm, dry summer conditions. If that's not you, take the walkers' route to the summit instead — you'll get the same view.

Sources: British Mountaineering Council — Pinnacle Ridge

Is St Sunday Crag suitable for beginners?

By the walkers' route, a fit beginner can manage it in good conditions — it's a steep climb but a clear path with no scrambling. It makes a rewarding 'next step' fell with superb Ullswater views.

Stay on the ridge and well away from Pinnacle Ridge and the steep Grisedale crags, pick a clear day, and carry a map and compass for the broad summit area.

Sources: Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team

Is St Sunday Crag worth climbing for the views?

Very much so — it's widely rated one of the finest viewpoints in the eastern Lakes, with a magnificent prospect down Ullswater and across to Helvellyn, Striding Edge and the Fairfield group. Wainwright himself was full of praise for the panorama.

For most walkers the straightforward route up gives all the reward without the risk of Pinnacle Ridge.

Sources: Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team

What should I wear and take up St Sunday Crag?

Wear proper walking boots for the steep, rough ground and carry warm, waterproof layers — the summit is exposed. Take a map and compass (the broad top needs care in cloud, with steep crags on the Grisedale side), food, water and a charged phone, and check the mountain forecast.

Leave Pinnacle Ridge to dry summer days and experienced scramblers; in winter the whole fell becomes serious snow-and-ice ground.

Sources: MWIS — Lake District forecast

Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-06-14 · Suggest a question or correction

Other fells near St Sunday Crag

Maps & guidebooks for St Sunday Crag

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