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14.11 km · ~795 m ascent · ~4–5.5 h · loop · 4 summits

Home / Routes / Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

Castle Crag — a tall cairn of stacked slates on a spoil heap of loose slate, larches behind and the wooded valley beyond under heavy cloud
Severe steepnessLoop

Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag

14.11 km
Distance
~4–5.5 h
Typical time
~795 m
Ascent
4
Summits

Photo: © Lee McCoy

Download GPX →Walked by Lee, July 2026

Key facts

Distance 14.11 km
Ascent ~795 m
Descent ~794 m
Time ~4–5.5 h
Type Loop
Start Rosthwaite
Borrowdale's small rough summits in one round — Castle Crag, King's How, Brund Fell and Great Crag. Nothing higher than 440 m, but with 58 path junctions near the line and four mapped crag features, it is a surprisingly easy day to wander off.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

Difficulty profile

LengthHard14.11 km — a long day out.
SteepnessSevereSteepest sustained pull about 36% around the 1.7 km mark.
TerrainModerateGraded on the ground.
NavigationModerateGraded on the ground.
ExposureModerateGraded on the ground.

Five independent axes, not one score — all field-checked on the ground here, with nothing left as a desk estimate.

Conditions on this route

We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 3 of them. The worst summit governs the verdict — a route is only as kind as its roughest top.

Modelled guidance — not a substitute for the mountain forecast or your own judgement. See how every fell ranks today →

Daylight & turnaround

By bus: the Borrowdale Bus (78) reaches Rosthwaite at 08:33 and the last one back leaves at 20:05. At a steady pace this walk finishes about 14:04. Be off Great Crag (Stonethwaite) by 18:20. Runs daily, including public holidays. From the summer 2026 timetable, read on 21 Aug 2026. Check the timetable before you rely on it.

Daylight is short from October to February — check today’s sunrise and sunset before you set off, and carry a head-torch and spare batteries. On short days, decide your turn-back time before you start.

Why this matters: 78% of Mountain Rescue call-outs come after midday — the day runs out on the way home, not on the way up. See also walking in bad weather and today’s conditions.

OpenTopoMap
Elevation profile, shaded by steepness
Elevation profile Rises from about 81 m to 439 m over 14.1 km, with the summits marked in order. The area beneath is shaded by sustained steepness over a 250 m window, in the same four bands as the route’s steepness rating: Easy under 15%, Moderate 15 to 25%, Hard 25 to 35%, Severe above 35%. 439 m 81 m 0 km 14.1 km 1234

1 Castle Crag2 King's How - Grange Fell3 Grange Fell (Brund Fell)4 Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Easy 71%Moderate 20%Hard 9%Severe 1%

~795 m
Total ascent
439 m
High point
88 m
Start height

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right).

This walk covers about 14.11 km with around 795 m of ascent, taking in 4 summits. The map above shows the line; the elevation profile and stage notes are below.

Access & barriers

Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route? A quick read from the gates and stiles mapped along the way.

Dog
Mostly gates
Buggy
Not buggy-able
Knees
Steep in places
  • Dog: A stile of unmapped type — a dog may need lifting over.
  • Buggy: Stiles or rough going on the route.
  • Knees: A sustained ~29% descent around the 10.7 km mark — a little jarring on tired knees.

On the line: 15 gates · 4 kissing gates · 1 step-over stile · 3 stiles (type unmapped)

These are mapped barriers, from OpenStreetMap — coverage in the Lakes is good but not guaranteed complete. Spotted a stile or gate we’ve missed? Tell us and we’ll fix it. Barrier data as of 2026-07-19. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).

Pacing

SummitCumulativeAscentTime (fast–steady)
1Castle Crag2.1 km198 m0:45–1:00
2King's How - Grange Fell7.2 km563 m2:23–3:10
3Grange Fell (Brund Fell)8.4 km647 m2:45–3:40
4Great Crag (Stonethwaite)10.5 km770 m3:24–4:31
Finish14.1 km795 m4:09–5:31

Naismith-based estimate — a fast/steady range. Your pace will vary. These use Naismith’s textbook constants (5 km/h, 600 m of ascent an hour). Measured against a pace fitted to 41 recorded Lakeland walks they run about 8% slow, and we have left them that way deliberately: a slow estimate strands nobody.

The walk, stage by stage

  1. 1

    Start → Castle Crag (2.1 km, 198 m)

    Climb of about 198 m over 2.1 km (around 9% average).

    From the starting point in the valley, cross the River Derwent and head into the ancient native woodland. The path climbs steadily through the trees before emerging at the base of Castle Crag, ending in a famously steep, zigzagging climb directly through a massive slate quarry heap to reach the summit

    Waypoints

    River Derwent crossing, woodland path, slate quarry heap, Castle Crag summit

    Decision point

    The massive pile of slate and the distinct zigzag path cut into it make the final ascent completely unmistakable

    Easy to get wrong

    At just under 1,000 feet, this is the lowest of all the Wainwrights, but the final ascent is no joke. The loose slate on the zigzag path shifts underfoot and requires careful, deliberate footing

    If you need to get off

    Carefully descend the slate path back into the woods and return to the valley floor along the river

    A wide gravel path beside a clear river running through a wooded valley, with a small wooded crag rising ahead beyond the meadows
    A cairn built entirely of stacked slate slabs on a huge spoil heap of loose slate, with larch trees behind and the valley beyond
    © Lee McCoy · 2 photographs
  2. 2

    Castle Crag → King's How - Grange Fell (5.1 km, 365 m)

    Climb of about 365 m over 5.1 km (around 7% average).

    Descend Castle Crag back to the valley floor. From here, begin the long, often wooded ascent up the flanks of Grange Fell. After breaking out of the tree line, follow the steepening, craggy path to tackle the rugged, knobbly top of King's How

    Waypoints

    Valley floor crossing, Grange Fell woodland ascent, King's How summit

    Decision point

    The paths through the woodland are generally clear and often stepped. Once on the open fell, follow the faint trods winding between the rocky outcrops

    Easy to get wrong

    A long transition stage that forces you to drop almost entirely back to valley level before re-ascending. The climb up through the woods is beautiful but feels like starting a completely new hike. The top of King's How is rugged, requiring a bit of minor scrambling over tree roots and rock

    If you need to get off

    Turn around and descend the wooded paths directly back to the Borrowdale valley road

    A vast tip of loose grey slate spilling down a hillside below trees, with bracken and rowan growing at its foot
    © Lee McCoy
  3. 3

    King's How - Grange Fell → Grange Fell (Brund Fell) (1.2 km, 84 m)

    Climb of about 84 m over 1.2 km (around 7% average).

    Leave King's How and navigate the confusing, undulating, and often boggy plateau of Grange Fell, weaving between heather and rocky outcrops to reach the true highest point at Brund Fell

    Waypoints

    King's How, Grange Fell plateau, Brund Fell summit

    Decision point

    Keep heading for the highest rocky outcrop to the south-east. There are a few different rocks that look like the top, but Brund Fell is marked by the most prominent high point

    Easy to get wrong

    Grange Fell is a sprawling series of "splatty rocks" and minor peaks rather than a single distinct mountain. It is notoriously confusing to identify the true summit here, and the depressions between the crags hold deep water and mud

    If you need to get off

    Push forward; this plateau is complex to navigate in reverse if the cloud drops

    Deep purple heather on a rocky top, looking down a long green valley to farms and walls, with high fells ranged on either side
    © Lee McCoy
  4. 4

    Grange Fell (Brund Fell) → Great Crag (Stonethwaite) (2.2 km, 123 m)

    Climb of about 123 m over 2.2 km (around 6% average).

    Descend slightly from Brund Fell, crossing the notoriously wet moorland heading south. The path weaves through dense heather and bracken, crossing small streams before a short, rocky ascent onto Great Crag

    Waypoints

    Brund Fell descent, boggy moorland, Great Crag summit

    Decision point

    The paths here are faint and easily lost in the heather. Maintain a general southerly bearing toward the craggy high ground ahead

    Easy to get wrong

    This entire section between the two fells is remarkably boggy and complex. The paths are heavily braided as walkers try to avoid the worst of the deep mud. Great Crag itself is a rugged, knobbly summit very similar in character to Grange Fell

    If you need to get off

    You can head west off the moorland to drop down toward the Borrowdale valley, though the paths are steep and rough

    A cairn of pale angular blocks on a rocky summit, with heather, a small pool and a wooded valley falling away to the left
    © Lee McCoy

  5. Great Crag (Stonethwaite) → Finish (3.6 km, 25 m)

    Descent of about 349 m over 3.6 km.

    Leave the summit of Great Crag, dropping past the picturesque Dock Tarn, before beginning the steep, wooded descent down into the Stonethwaite valley. Rejoin the valley tracks and follow the river back to your starting point

    Waypoints

    Dock Tarn, Stonethwaite valley descent, valley tracks, Finish

    Decision point

    Dock Tarn acts as a beautiful water handrail on the descent. Once in Stonethwaite, the wide track by the river is an unmistakable highway back

    Easy to get wrong

    The descent from Great Crag and Dock Tarn into Stonethwaite is notoriously steep, rocky, and can be treacherous when wet. It puts a lot of pressure on the knees. Once you hit the valley floor, the final stretch is a very easy, flat walk out

    If you need to get off

    You are on the final exit route; simply continue the descent off the fell

Summits bagged (4)

  1. 1Castle Crag290 mNorth Western · Wainwright, Fellranger, Synge
  2. 2King's How - Grange Fell392 mCentral · Birkett, Synge
  3. 3Grange Fell (Brund Fell)417 mCentral · Wainwright, Birkett, Fellranger, Synge
  4. 4Great Crag (Stonethwaite)449 mCentral · Wainwright, Birkett, Fellranger, Synge

In the order you walk them — the same numbers the elevation profile, the stage notes and the pacing table use.

Getting there & parking

Great Crag, west car park (paid) — 0.0 km from the start (straight line)
Walking base for Castle Crag, King's How - Grange Fell, Grange Fell (Brund Fell) and Great Crag (Stonethwaite) — the 'Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag' route starts 10 m away. Also serves 'The Borrowdale Fells (Rosthwaite Fell round)'.
Directions Something changed here?
Great Crag car park (paid) — 0.2 km from the start (straight line)
Walking base for Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Dovenest Top (Dovenest Crag) (Stonethwaite Fell), Thornythwaite Fell and Castle Crag — the 'The Borrowdale Fells (Rosthwaite Fell round)' route starts 174 m away. Also serves 'Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag'. Paid parking (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Rosthwaite (NT, paid) — 0.4 km from the start (straight line)
Village car park for the central Borrowdale fells and Watendlath ridge. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked Aug 2026). The National Trust does not allow overnight parking here (NT, checked Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Stonethwaite (roadside, limited) (1.8 km); Quay Foot Quarry, Borrowdale (NT, paid) (1.8 km); Seatoller (NT, paid) (1.8 km)
🚺 Rosthwaite Village (~389 m straight line) — Free · Accessible☕ The Flock-in
Great Crag, south-west (layby) — 0.9 km from the start (straight line)
Walking base for Lining Crag, Ullscarf, Sergeant's Crag and Eagle Crag — the 'Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag' route starts 59 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Castle Crag (layby) — 1.0 km from the start (straight line)
Nearest fells: Castle Crag (0.7 km), King's How - Grange Fell (0.9 km), Grange Fell (Brund Fell) (1.0 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.

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.

Every option near this start, on the parking map →

Water, shelter & getting away

🛖 map (8 m)🚺 map (11 m)🚌 General Store (N bound) (68 m)🚌 General Store (S bound) (82 m)🚌 Howe Lane End (S bound) (337 m)🚌 Howe Lane End (N bound) (339 m)

On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors — an absent marker does not mean the facility isn’t there.

Buses

The 77 stops at Rosthwaite General Store (near), 180 m from this start. The last bus is 20:05 towards Keswick (78), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

The 77 passes this route at 0.1 km (Rosthwaite, at Howe Lane end, 300 m off the line). It passes again at 5.0 km.

Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before travelling.

If the parking is full

If the first one is full, these do not all fill together. The 3 below sit in different places or are different kinds of parking, so a busy morning at one does not mean a busy morning at all of them.

  • Quay Foot Quarry, Borrowdale (NT, paid)
  • Great Crag car park (paid)
  • Castle Crag (layby)

Worked out from the parking we hold within walking reach of this route and the other walks each place serves — two places that serve the same walks fill for the same reasons. We are not saying whether anywhere has spaces today, and we never will: this is what exists, not what is free.

When the sun reaches the tops

Not sunrise — the moment the sun clears the skyline from that summit, which on a fell with high ground to its east can be a good deal later. The two equinoxes are shown because they fall in the walking season, and late December too wherever a top keeps you waiting then; the clock gap between the equinoxes is British Summer Time, not the hill. Rounded to the nearest quarter hour and meant as a general idea, not a schedule.

  • Castle Crag — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:45, about half an hour later. In late September, about 07:30. It waits longest in midsummer — about half an hour after sunrise. In late December, not until about 09:15.
  • Grange Fell (Brund Fell) — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:45, about half an hour later. In late September, about 07:30. It waits longest in midsummer — about half an hour after sunrise. In late December, not until about 09:00.
  • Great Crag (Stonethwaite) — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:45, about half an hour later. In late September, about 07:30. It waits longest in late December — about an hour after sunrise.

Modelled from a 30 m elevation model against each summit’s own skyline — the same figures the fell pages carry, never observed. Cloud is not in it.

Safety & conditions

Check live conditions in the “From the fells” panel, on MWIS and the Met Office mountain forecast before you set off.

Make it easier or harder

Short version: turn back at about 7.5 km (drop to Start) — roughly half the distance.

Download

Download GPX

GPX track for your GPS or phone.

Places to stay near this start

Seatoller House B&B guest house

about 1.6 km from the start, in a straight line

Two named family rooms (Rabbit and Stag), both large with a private bathroom opposite, plus a dog policy precise enough to plan around — dogs in, but never in the dining room and dried off at the back door. The catch is timing: breakfast runs 8.00–8.30 only, which is late for a long Ullscarf day, and dinner is a single 7pm sitting that must be pre-booked 48 hours ahead if you did not book direct. It also shuts for the winter.

Worth knowing: “Well behaved dogs are allowed, they are not allowed in the dining room at any time,Please clean and dry all dogs on entering Seatoller via the back door.”

The house is 400 years old, has taken guests for more than a century, and is the largest building in the hamlet of Seatoller; every bedroom is named for a local animal — Badger, Eagle, Osprey, Otter, Owl, Rabbit, Squirrel, Stag, Hedgehog and the Bakehouse annexe.

  • Dogs “Well behaved dogs are allowed, they are not allowed in the dining room at any time,Please clean and dry all dogs on entering Seatoller via the back door.”
  • Family rooms “Rabbit Large Family room, Private bathroom directly opposite, great views of garden & Fells”
  • Evening meal “dinner is a set menu served at 7.00pm with the exception of Wednesdays, when Dinner is not served”
  • Parking “There are 10 bedrooms all with private bathrooms, a large award winning garden surrounding the house and ample private car parking.”

Worth knowing before you book

These places state on their own site that they do not take children.

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from the route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap.