The Central Fells

Great Crag

Great Crag summit cairn at the Wainwright top, looking north to the (lower) subsidiary top and to Skiddaw in the distance.
Photograph taken: 28th April 2022

Great Crag summit cairn at the Wainwright top, looking north to the (lower) subsidiary top and to Skiddaw in the distance.
Photograph taken: 28th April 2022
The cairn at the lower north top at Great Crag. Arguably, this top has the better views and is well worth a visit. This view looks north-east down into Watendlath with High Seat on the skyline.
Photograph taken: 28th April 2022

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Location map for Great Crag

Wainwright top at Great Crag

Context

Great Crag is a Wainwright in The Central Fells area of the Lake District National Park.

Location

Grid Ref: NY 27001 14685
BNG e,n: 327001,514685
Lat/long: 54.522174,-3.129310
GeoJSON: [-3.129310,54.522174]
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Feature: cairn

Elevation

Height: 449m / 1,473ft
Drop: 32.0m
Rank: 191 / 214

Details

Locating Wainwright tops

It's easy to make the mistake of thinking that the Wainwright top is at the true summit of a fell. For many fells in the 214, this is not the case. Wainwright often chose a top because of its aspect or view rather than its height. This is what sometimes makes finding the Wainwright tops so confusing.

Locating a top is also complicated by the fact that features change over time. Cairns come and go, some grow and some shrink, fence posts are added or removed. Although the summit sketches in Wainwright's guides and the photographs in this guide are useful aids for identification, the features shown are subject to change, especially on popular fells. See Fleetwith Pike for an example of how cairns change.

Important: The accuracy of GPS on smartphones is ±5m at best but could be as much as 8m out. Please bear this in mind when using the location data.

Notes

Rather confusingly, Great Crag has two tops of similar height about 80m apart. Both have significant cairns and also look alike. The Wainwright top is the southern of the two.

North top (cairn)

Grid Ref: NY 26995 14764
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Route planning

Fells

Grange Fell: 2.3km; 107m; 37min
Ullscarf: 4.0km; 353m; 1hr 22min

Details

There are 2 viable routes from Great Crag

The Wainwright guides indicate “ridge routes” from each fell and although this is useful, it doesn't always allow for effective route planning. The routes shown here are the Wainwright ridge routes (indicated with ) plus any other viable routes (indicated with ), not necessarily linked by a ridge. This list provides a more comprehensive network of potential routes that can be used when planning days out on the fells.

All routes have been plotted in the OS Maps app. The distance, ascent and time values are those given for the plotted routes. Time values are for moderately fit walkers without breaks. They should therefore be considered minimum values for the purposes of route planning.

Classification

DoBIH No

2491

Local

Birkett, Fellranger, Synge, Wainwright

Birkett: Lake District hills over 1,000ft listed in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells. There are 541 Birketts, 211 are also Wainwrights.
Fellranger: Lake District hills included in Mark Richards' Fellranger walking series, a set of eight volumes inspired by the Wainwright guides. There are 230 Fellrangers, 209 are also Wainwrights. This is a curated list, not based on height criteria.
Synge: Lake District hills over 300m listed in Tim Synge's The Lakeland Summits. The book aims to list every significant summit over 300m in height within the National Park, 646 in total. It includes all 214 fells in Wainwright's Pictorial Guides, including Castle Crag at 290m.
Wainwright: Lake District hills included in volumes 1-7 of Wainwright's A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. There are 214 Wainwrights in all. This is a curated list, not based on height criteria.

National

400-499m TUMP

400-499m TUMP: British hills that are 400-499m in height with at least 30m of drop. There are 19 Wainwrights in this class.

Geology

Bedrock

Birker Fell Andesite Formation

BGS code

BFA

Type

Igneous (extrusive)

Age

449.0 – 458.4 Ma

Period

Ordovician

Parent

Borrowdale Volcanic Group

Details

Members, formations and groups

Member: A smaller unit of rock that shares common charateristics and features, often used in geology to describe specific layers within a formation.
Formation: A larger unit of rock that is distinct from other formations above and below. A formation may include two or more members.
Group: A stratigraphic unit that includes two or more associated formations that are usually contiguous or contain significant features in common.
Suite: A geological unit containing intrusive, highly deformed, or metamorthic rocks of the same type, lacking discernable stratification.
Complex: A geological unit containing intrusive, highly deformed, or metamorthic rocks of different types, lacking discernable stratification.

Notes

Predominantly sheets of fine to coarse grained andersite, formed from fluid lava flows with feeder dykes and sills. The formation may also include some basalts and dacites. Distinctive units within the formation are identified as member units e.g. Haystacks Andersite Member. Andersites are volcanic rocks, intermediate between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite.

Daylight

Tuesday, 9th June 2026

Daylight

17 hours 12 minutes

Dawn