Raven Crag from Thirlmere
Photo: © Lee McCoy
Start Dam Triangle Car Park
Getting here Parking: Dam Triangle, Thirlmere (paid), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 555 stops at Stanah, at Dam road end; from there it is 1.2 km and 93 m of ascent to this start. And the same back: about 8.2 km in all, with the walk. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Hard steepness: Steepest sustained climb about 25% around the 0.8 km mark.
Before you choose
Conditions on this route
We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 1 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
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.
See also walking in bad weather and today’s conditions.
Route map
1 Raven Crag
Easy 80%Moderate 18%Hard 2%Severe
Heights on this chart and its high point are read from the track itself (a terrain model sampled along the line, or a GPS recording), so a top can differ from its listed height, usually reading lower.
Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
The elevation profile is under the map; the stage notes follow.
The walk, stage by stage
- 1
Dam Triangle Car Park → Raven Crag (1.3 km, 259 m)
Starting from the parking area near the northern end of the Thirlmere dam, cross the road and immediately enter the dense forestry plantation. Tackle the fiercely steep climb up the eastern flank, utilizing the heavily stepped, zig-zagging path that winds relentlessly up through the pine trees to emerge at the summit's dramatic viewing platform.
WaypointsDam Triangle Car Park, Thirlmere lower forestry track, Raven Crag summit (461 m) / viewing platform.
Decision pointThe ascent path is clear, heavily maintained, and clearly routed through the commercial forestry. At the summit, a purpose-built wooden boardwalk and viewing platform jutting out over the sheer drop acts as your ultimate destination marker.
Easy to get wrongA short but brutally sharp 20% average climb. The route is highly engineered with hundreds of wooden and stone steps. While technically simple and free of bogs, it is a lung-busting stair-master workout that offers virtually no reprieve until you breach the summit. The steps can become treacherous when covered in wet pine needles or winter ice.
If you need to get offTurn around and carefully descend the steep steps directly back to the car park.
© Lee McCoy · 2 photographs Raven Crag → Finish (4.5 km, 55 m)
Descend from the summit platform, retracing your steps down the steep, stepped path to intersect the lower forestry roads. From here, the route extends into a gentle, undulating circuit through the Smaithwaite woodland, wrapping around the lower contours before crossing the massive structure of the Thirlmere dam to return to the parking area.
WaypointsRaven Crag summit, stepped descent, lower forestry tracks, Smaithwaite woodland, Thirlmere Dam, Finish.
Decision pointThe descent path funnels you off the crag. Once on the valley floor, the colossal concrete expanse of the Thirlmere dam and the reservoir itself provide massive visual handrails to guide you effortlessly back to the start.
Easy to get wrongThe initial drop off the crag is fiercely steep and can be highly jarring on the knees due to the endless hard steps. Once off the fellside, the rest of the way is a mechanically easy, relaxing stroll on wide, hard-packed forestry commission tracks. The 55 m of minor ascent is barely noticeable on the rolling woodland roads.
If you need to get offYou are on the final descent and exit route. Stick strictly to the primary, wide forestry tracks; under no circumstances should you attempt to shortcut directly down the sheer, craggy eastern face of Raven Crag toward the water.
© Lee McCoy
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Walked in part · km 3.6–5.5 from the map
Summits bagged (1)
- 1Raven Crag461 m
Conditions and timing
Check live conditions in the “From the fells” panel, on MWIS (opens in new tab) and the Met Office mountain forecast (opens in new tab) before you set off.
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.
- Raven 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 late December — about an hour after sunrise.
How to read these times
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.
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.
Getting there and back
Parking
2 more places to park near the start
Positions are approximate.
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.
If the parking is full
There is a fallback here, but it is a weak one. Some of the 3 below tend to fill for the same reasons at the same time. Treat the list as one-and-a-bit options rather than 3.
- Raven Crag (layby) — a 590 m walk to the start, climbing about 90 m
- Castle Rock (layby) — joins the loop at about km 4.8 of 5.8: a 930 m walk to the line, climbing about 40 m, and you walk the round from there
- High Rigg South Top (verge) — joins the loop at about km 3.3 of 5.8: a 800 m walk to the line, climbing about 70 m, and you walk the round from there
We never say whether anywhere has spaces today. Walks to the line are measured along mapped paths (OpenStreetMap), not in a straight line. How we choose these places.
No signal when you get there? RoutePark keeps this list on your phone: choose this walk’s GPX at home, keep it, and it opens offline.
Buses
The 555 stops at Stanah, at Dam road end. From there it is 1.2 km and 93 m of ascent to this start — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 8.2 km in all, with 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; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
The 555 passes this route at 3.4 km (Stanah, at Shoulthwaite Farm, 380 m off the line).
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival The car park by the Thirlmere dam, beside the start: paid. No price is recorded here. 12 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (Lee's Street View sweep, 8 August 2026, checked 8 August 2026)
- Toilets No toilets are mapped within 250 m of the start. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments No café or pub is mapped within 250 m of the start: bring what you need. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Limitation The first stage climbs at about 20% on average, with a steepest pull of about 25%; the top is a crag, so stay on the path at the viewpoint. (our route notes (this route's own warnings), checked 28 September 2026)
No mapped drinking water or shelter on this route — that doesn’t mean there is none, and never drink untreated from a beck. (Facilities data © OpenStreetMap contributors.)
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Planning detail
How each grade on this page is set, and the timings stage by stage.
Difficulty profile
Hard overall — hardest: Steepness
Five independent axes, not one score. None of them was set on the ground: three of the five are our judgement from the map and the route’s record, and the rest are computed from the recorded track and the map, which measures the line rather than surveying the ground.
How we grade: each axis is Easy, Moderate, Hard or Severe, and a route between two bands takes the higher one. Length: under 8 km, 8–14 km, 14–20 km, over 20 km. Steepness, the steepest 500 m of the track: under 15%, 15–25%, 25–35%, over 35%. Terrain, navigation and exposure are judged rather than measured, and each note says why. How we grade.
Pacing
| Summit | Cumulative | Ascent | Time (fast–steady) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Raven Crag | 1.3 km | 259 m | 0:42–0:56 |
| Finish | 5.8 km | 314 m | 1:41–2:14 |
A fast–steady range from Naismith’s rule, deliberately on the slow side. Breaks, weather, rough ground and the slowest person in your party all add to it. How we time walks.
Access & barriers
Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route?
- Buggy: No mapped stiles; terrain Easy – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; that stretch not walked, but the going for wheels is not recorded; not a buggy line on what we know.
- Knees: A sustained ~19% descent over 250 m around the 1.4 km mark — a little jarring on tired knees.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: the steepest stretch, a sustained climb of about 25% around the 0.8 km mark.
- Stiles and gates: Only gates and kissing gates are mapped: no stile a dog can’t get through. That is the barriers alone; check the route’s steep or rocky ground before you bring a dog. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 26 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Easy – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; that stretch not walked.
- Drops and exposed ground: Easy – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; that stretch not walked.
- Ways off early: None recorded for this route.
- Livestock, shade and water: Not recorded for this route yet. We never call a stream safe for a dog to drink, so carry enough for both of you. The lead rules, and what to do around cattle, are on dogs on the fells.
On the line: 10 gates
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 26 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Places to stay near this start
From Legburthwaite: 3 places in Keswick
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Lodore Falls — 4.2 km from this start
Straight-line distance from this walk’s start. Those lists hold the routes we have mapped and every Wainwright and Outlying fell within about 5 km of the town, ranked nearest first.