St Sunday Crag

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited January 2025

Home › Fells › St Sunday Crag

841 mWainwright — Eastern Fells+4 bonus Birketts within 3 km Fewer traps in Clag

St Sunday Crag at 841m (2,760ft) is the great isolated pyramid above Patterdale, separated from the Helvellyn ridge by the deep trench of Grisedale.

Summit conditions on St Sunday Crag

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 57 mph, 20.1 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.

Wind on the top

Past the line

72 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 55 mph times our exposure factor of 1.29. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 57 mph, before any exposure factor.

The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS (opens in new tab) describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.

Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.

Cloud on the top

Past the line

18 out of 100, the clear-top reading

Averaged over the daylight hours, from the forecast’s humidity and low cloud.

The line Our line: a clear-top reading under 20 out of 100, where our scorer says “summit likely clagged in”. There is no outside threshold to cite; it is our estimate. What cloud does to finding the way: navigating in cloud.

Not an observation: cloud lifts and drops within the hour.

Rain, and the becks

Past the line

20.1 mm of rain over the whole day, midnight to midnight

The same figure as the summit line above and the 7-day forecast.

The line Our line: 6 mm in the day, where our scorer counts a day as soaking. We read rainfall, never river levels: becks in spate.

Open-Meteo’s forecast. It says nothing about rain already in the ground.

Also checked cold: feels like −2 °C, no ice or snow forecast. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.

Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.

Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Routes up St Sunday Crag

Both start from Patterdale Hotel Car Park (Patterdale Hotel, paid); the last two rows give its parking and bus. Full maps further down.

Compared	St Sunday Crag	Grisedale Tarn, Fairfield, St Sunday Crag from Patterdale
Starts from	Patterdale	Patterdale
Distance and climb	10.22 km, 838 m of climb	15.92 km, 983 m of climb
Time, fast to steady	~3¼–4¾ h	~4¾–6½ h
Scrambling	Not mentioned in the route’s notes	Hands for a few steps: Cofa Pike (km 8.8–9.3).
Exposure	Easy	Not assessed
Navigation	Moderate	Moderate
Steepest stretch	Descent of about 43% at 8.3 km (Severe)	Climb of about 41% at 8.1 km (Severe)
After the summit	Over Gavel Pike	Over Birks
Walked or planned	Walked by Lee, January 2025	Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the start	Patterdale Hotel Car Park (Patterdale Hotel, paid)	Patterdale Hotel Car Park (Patterdale Hotel, paid)
Bus to the start	508 at the start	508 at the start

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 →

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 (2,760 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 (opens in new tab)

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 841 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast

Tue 27 Oct

10° / 4°

57 mph

20.1 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

7° / 4°

48 mph

11.1 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

7° / 5°

27 mph

2.3 mm (75%)

Fri 30 Oct

6° / 4°

24 mph

0.9 mm (8%)

Sat 31 Oct

5° / 2°

7 mph

1.2 mm (6%)

Sun 1 Nov

6° / 2°

15 mph

0.3 mm (2%)

Mon 2 Nov

4° / -3°

6 mph

0.0 mm (0%)

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)

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for St Sunday Crag

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Patterdale Hotel Car Park (Patterdale Hotel, paid) — at the start of St Sunday Crag and Grisedale Tarn, Fairfield, St Sunday Crag from Patterdale

Walking base for Place Fell, The Knight, Arnison Crag and Birks — the 'Place Fell and The Knight' route starts 23 m away. Also serves 'St Sunday Crag'. Fees: pay and display, coins only (LDNPA directory, read 30 August 2026). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Bridgend, south (layby) — 3.2 km from summit (straight line)

On the A592 at Bridgend, between Patterdale and Hartsop, beside the Bridgend bus stops. The nearest route starts are the two at Cow Bridge, 1.1 km south on foot, and the two in Patterdale, 1.9 km north on foot ('St Sunday Crag', which climbs Arnison Crag, and 'Place Fell and The Knight'). Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Bridgend (layby) — 3.2 km from summit (straight line)

On the A592 at Bridgend, between Patterdale and Hartsop, beside a bus stop. The nearest route starts are the two at Cow Bridge, 1.2 km south on foot, and the two in Patterdale, 1.7 km north on foot ('St Sunday Crag', which climbs Arnison Crag, and 'Place Fell and The Knight'). Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

3 more places to park near St Sunday Crag

Cow Bridge (layby) — 3.3 km from summit (straight line)

Walking base for Middle Dodd, Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top), High Hartsop Dodd and Gale Crag — the 'Middle Dodd Little Hart Crag and High Hartsop Dodd' route starts 56 m away. Also serves 'Hartsop Fells and Hart Crag'. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

KGV Playing Field Community Car Park, Patterdale — 3.3 km from summit (straight line)

For Place Fell, St Sunday Crag, the Grisedale fells. Walking base for Arnison Crag, Birks, St Sunday Crag and Gavel Pike — the 'St Sunday Crag' route starts 506 m away. Also serves 'Place Fell and The Knight'. On the King George V Playing Field; Patterdale Parish Council lists it as open all year, postcode CA11 0PJ (Parking in Patterdale map, October 2025). The National Park's car-parks directory (read 12 September 2026) adds that it may be closed to the public on cricket-match, other sports and local community days.

Directions Something changed here?

Public toilets (~705 m straight line) — Free Public toilets (~926 m straight line) White Lion Inn Patterdale Hotel

Cow Bridge, Hartsop (paid) — 3.4 km from summit (straight line)

Paid car park by Brothers Water — Hartsop above How, Dovedale, Caudale Moor. Fees: pay and display; coins and cards; RingGo ID 37323 (LDNPA, checked August 2026).

Directions When people arrive, and what it costs →Something changed here?

Positions are approximate.

Of the pay-and-display machine tickets sold at Cow Bridge from 17 August 2024 to 31 March 2026, 34% were bought before 10am (our count of FOI/2026.500 ticket data). Contains public sector information provided by the Lake District National Park Authority and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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 508 and 509 stop at Patterdale Hotel (opposite), a 20 m walk from the start of Grisedale Tarn, Fairfield, St Sunday Crag from Patterdale — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness). The last bus is 19:46 towards Windermere (508) and 15:09 towards Hartsop (509), every day. 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.

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 (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 St Sunday Crag

Hazard & Incident Information for St Sunday Crag

Checked by Lee McCoy, 13 June 2026. Draws on published material from Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team. Editorial background, not a live callout feed.

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.

What to watch for: Scramblers cragfast on Pinnacle Ridge · Navigation errors onto steep ground in mist · Winter incidents on the ridge

Local Mountain Rescue: Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab)

Safety: 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 (opens in new tab)

Navigating in cloud

Fewer traps in cloud

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of steep ground within half a kilometre of the summit. This top is in the lowest of the index’s four bands, and a low band never means “safe”: carry map and compass and know how to use them.

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 (experimental).

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

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of St Sunday Crag

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

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

Grisedale Tarn, Fairfield, St Sunday Crag from Patterdale

Summits: Fairfield Cofa PikeSt Sunday CragBirks

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Route guide: Grisedale Tarn, Fairfield, St Sunday Crag from Patterdale →

St Sunday Crag

Summits: Arnison Crag BirksSt Sunday CragGavel Pike

Download GPX Walked by Lee, January 2025

Warnings: Birks falls away steeply into Grisedale and Deepdale, with broken, rough ground on both sides. Any descent off the flanks is fraught with difficulty and can be dangerous — keep to the ridge and use the proper paths down, especially in cloud.

Route guide: St Sunday Crag →

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 St Sunday Crag

Water & shelter on the way up

On the St Sunday Crag route:

Patterdale Hotel (E bound) (12 m from the start, straight line) Patterdale Hotel (W bound) (32 m from the start, straight line) Youth Hostel (N bound) (462 m from the start, straight line) Youth Hostel (S bound) (468 m from the start, straight line)

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

About St Sunday Crag

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.

Field 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 Cofa 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 Cofa 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.

— Lee McCoy, who walked it on our St Sunday Crag route in January 2025

My Strava hikes over St Sunday Crag

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

When you're following footprints in the snow and they stop and turn around, don't keep going! (opens in new tab) — 10.1 km · 841 m ascent · 3h 18m moving · 29 January 2025

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is St Sunday Crag a Wainwright?

St Sunday Crag is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Nuttall list, the Fellranger list, the Marilyn list and the Hewitt list.

Selected lists

841 m

Height

2,760 ft

In feet

NY 3691 1339

Grid ref

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

The summit is also a Birkett.

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 →

The view from St Sunday Crag

The 360° skyline 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

The skyline as a list, 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 Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on St Sunday Crag

St Sunday Crag catches the sun before the valley does. On not one of the sixteen dates modelled does this summit wait for first light — the eastern horizon falls away rather than standing over you, and at midsummer the light reaches it 5 minutes before almanac sunrise.

Midsummer. The filled shape is the skyline as seen from the summit; the line is the sun’s path. Where they meet is first light — everything left of that point is the wait.

Times for 2026, in Lakeland clock time (GMT in winter, BST in summer) — and model outputs rather than observations.
	First light	Almanac sunrise	Difference
Midsummer	04:31 BST ±5.0 min	04:36	-5 min
Equinox	06:12 GMT ±5.0 min	06:15	-3 min
Midwinter	08:29 GMT ±5.0 min	08:32	-3 min

A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.34°).

Last light — when the sun leaves St Sunday Crag

The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (on 1 August) last light is only 14 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on St Sunday Crag.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
	Last light	Almanac sunset	Difference
Midsummer	21:53 BST ±5.0 min	21:52	+1 min
Equinox	18:28 GMT ±5.0 min	18:26	+2 min
Midwinter	15:54 GMT ±5.0 min	15:49	+5 min

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.

What you can see from St Sunday Crag

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.

78Wainwrights in view+8 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 78 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), Haycock

How the view from St Sunday Crag compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed

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 St Sunday 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.

Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. 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

Greenbank Farm Bed and Breakfast (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 1.3 km

Also nearby, but not independent

YHA Helvellyn (opens in new tab) hostelabout 3.2 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).

Frequently asked questions about St Sunday Crag

Is St Sunday Crag hard to climb? Answered above.

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 (opens in new tab)

How long does it take to climb St Sunday Crag? Answered above: Routes up St Sunday Crag.

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; our advice is never to go solo, and to keep it for 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 (opens in new tab)

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 (opens in new tab)

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 (opens in new tab)

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 (opens in new tab)

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-06-14 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

St Sunday Crag

Summit conditions on St Sunday Crag

Wind on the top

Cloud on the top

Rain, and the becks

Routes up St Sunday Crag

Is St Sunday Crag hard to climb?

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for St Sunday Crag

Parking

Buses

Hazards on St Sunday Crag

Hazard & Incident Information for St Sunday Crag

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of St Sunday Crag

Routes over St Sunday Crag

On the hill: terrain and water on St Sunday Crag

Water & shelter on the way up

About St Sunday Crag

Field notes

My Strava hikes over St Sunday Crag

Classifications & hill data

Is St Sunday Crag a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from St Sunday Crag

The 360° skyline from St Sunday Crag

Sunrise and sunset on St Sunday Crag

Last light — when the sun leaves St Sunday Crag

What you can see from St Sunday Crag

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about St Sunday Crag

Other fells near St Sunday Crag