Tarn Crag (Easedale)
Tarn Crag at 583m (1,913ft) above Easedale is a craggy little summit above the head of the Sour Milk Gill path from Grasmere.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 549 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 12° to 9°C, gusts to 26 mph, 2.4 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 549 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Tarn Crag (Easedale) at a glance
Tarn Crag (Easedale)
Routes up Tarn Crag (Easedale)
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is Tarn Crag (Easedale) a Wainwright?
Tarn Crag (Easedale) is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.
Where do you park for Tarn Crag (Easedale)?
We hold no car park within 2.5 km of the summit, so there is no short walk-in to recommend here. 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 Tarn Crag (Easedale)?
The shortest way up we hold is West of Grasmere — 15.4 km, 806 m of ascent, about 4.4 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Hard.
All axes: steepness: Hard · length: Hard · exposure: Moderate · navigation: Moderate · terrain: Moderate.
My hikes over Tarn Crag (Easedale) (Strava)
2 logged hikes pass over this summit:
- Sunrise Summit Stroll with Chris (opens in new tab) — 17.6 km · 850 m ascent · 4h 59m moving · 23 Mar 2025
- That was a bit warm. 29c at the summit of Steel Fell!! (opens in new tab) — 20.4 km · 1005 m ascent · 5h 39m moving · 26 Jun 2024
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for Tarn Crag (Easedale)
Best parking to hike Tarn Crag (Easedale)
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.
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 Tarn Crag (Easedale) by bus
The 555 stops at Grasmere, at School, 110 m from the start of Helm Crag, Gibson Knott, Calf Crag, Steel Fell and Tarn Crag. Last bus: Monday to Friday 20:46 towards Keswick (555); Saturday 20:46 towards Keswick (555); Sunday 18:36 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 Tarn Crag (Easedale)
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 Tarn Crag (Easedale) in cloud
Care neededA rough, rocky summit ringed by crags, with no single obvious way off in poor visibility. Take care in poor visibility — 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 Tarn Crag (Easedale) 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: Helm Crag car park (paid), about 3.0 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Tarn Crag (Easedale) (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 Tarn Crag (Easedale)
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this 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 Tarn Crag (Easedale)
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Helm Crag, Gibson Knott, Calf Crag, Steel Fell and Tarn Crag route:
On the West of Grasmere route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
The view from Tarn Crag (Easedale)
The 360° skyline from Tarn Crag (Easedale)
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 Tarn Crag (Easedale), by direction
- North: Watson's Dodd (11 km), Little Dodd (12 km), Great Dodd (12 km), Clough Head (14 km), Gategill Fell Top (18 km), Blencathra (18 km), Doddick Fell (19 km), Scales Fell (19 km), Bannerdale Crags (20 km)
- North-east: Seat Sandal (5 km), Dollywaggon Pike (6 km), High Crag (6 km), Fairfield (6 km), Cofa Pike (6 km), Helvellyn (7 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (7 km), St Sunday Crag (8 km)
- East: Great Rigg (5 km), Heron Pike (5 km), Hart Crag (7 km), Dove Crag (7 km), Red Screes (9 km), Yoke (14 km)
- South: Wetherlam (8 km), Black Sails (9 km), Great Carrs (9 km), Swirl How (9 km), Great How (10 km), Brim Fell (11 km), The Old Man of Coniston (12 km)
- South-west: Thunacar Knott (3 km), Harrison Stickle (3 km), Pike of Blisco (6 km), Great Knott (7 km), Cold Pike (7 km), Little Stand (8 km), Grey Friar (10 km)
- West: Codale Head (2 km), Low White Stones (2 km)
- North-west: Ullscarf (3 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Moel y Gamelin (163 km, Wales), Great Whernside (78 km, England), Winter Hill (101 km, England), Cyrn-y-Brain (161 km, Wales), Billinge Hill (110 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 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.
Sunrise and sunset on Tarn Crag (Easedale)
Tarn Crag (Easedale) waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when the sun is up for 27 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 05:04 against an almanac sunrise of 04:37. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the north-east from here (50.7°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 2.61°.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 05:04 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | +27 min |
| Equinox | 06:23 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:15 | +8 min |
| Midwinter | 08:29 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:33 | -4 min |
The northern horizon stands at about 2.11° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves Tarn Crag (Easedale)
Tarn Crag (Easedale) loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at the March equinox, when last light is 50 minutes before almanac sunset — 17:36 against 18:26. The sun goes down to the west from here (261.1°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 6.79°.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:34 BST ±5.0 min | 21:52 | -18 min |
| Equinox | 17:36 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:26 | -50 min |
| Midwinter | 15:32 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -17 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 Tarn Crag (Easedale). 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.
What you can see from Tarn Crag (Easedale)
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.- Ingleborough Yorkshire Dales
- Whernside Yorkshire Dales
- Morecambe Bay bay/estuary
All 43 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Calf Crag, Blea Rigg, Gibson Knott, Helm Crag, Pavey Ark, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Thunacar Knott, Harrison Stickle, Ullscarf, Silver How, Stone Arthur, Seat Sandal, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Great Rigg, Heron Pike (Rydal), Nab Scar, Dollywaggon Pike, Fairfield, Pike of Blisco, Loughrigg Fell, Nethermost Pike, Hart Crag, Helvellyn, Cold Pike, High Pike (Scandale), Dove Crag, St Sunday Crag, Wetherlam, Black Fell, Holme Fell, Great Carrs, Swirl How, Red Screes, Grey Friar, Watson's Dodd, Baystones (Wansfell), Brim Fell, Great Dodd, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Clough Head, Sour Howes, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Bannerdale Crags
How Tarn Crag (Easedale)’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 Grasmere: 10 places
Other fells near Tarn Crag (Easedale)
- 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
- Raven Crag
- Sergeant Man
- Sergeant's Crag
- Silver How
- Steel Fell (Dead Pike)
- Thunacar Knott
- Ullscarf
- Walla Crag