A little rocky knuckle of a fell standing right in the Jaws of Borrowdale, between Grange and Rosthwaite. Castle Crag is the smallest of all Wainwright's fells — and the only one under 1,000ft — yet its steep, quarried summit gives one of the finest short walks in the valley.
Height · 951 ft
The only Wainwright under it
North Western Fells
but steep zigzag
Borrowdale's little giant
Castle Crag is the steep, rocky hillock that plugs the narrowest point of Borrowdale — the wooded gorge known as the Jaws of Borrowdale, roughly halfway between the hamlets of Grange and Rosthwaite. At just 290 metres (951 ft) it is the smallest fell Alfred Wainwright gave its own chapter, and the only one of his 214 fells that stands under 1,000 feet — a fact that has made it a bucket-list tick for Wainwright-baggers, and the signature reason to climb it.
Don't let the modest height fool you. The Castle Crag walk is short, but the final pull to the top climbs a steep zigzag through the spoil of old slate quarries, and the summit is a rugged little platform with a huge view down the valley to Derwentwater. Wainwright himself had a soft spot for it, and it remains one of the most rewarding half-day outings in the whole of the northern Lakes.
Castle Crag in pictures
A rocky little summit with an outsized reward. These photos give a sense of the honest terrain — the quarry-spoil path — and the view that opens up down Borrowdale from the top.
Honest difficulty
Short, but genuinely steep near the top. Castle Crag is a small fell and the approach along the valley floor is gentle and easy. The sting is in the tail: the final climb to the summit goes up a zigzag through old slate-quarry spoil, and that loose scree needs care — particularly on the way back down, and especially when it's wet, when the fine slate can be slippery underfoot.
There's no exposure and no scrambling, so for most reasonably fit walkers taking it steadily it's a very manageable objective, and a great introduction to a "proper" rocky summit. It is emphatically not a pushchair or buggy walk — the quarry section rules that out — and in poor conditions sturdy footwear with good grip makes a real difference.
Difficulty band: Short · steep zigzag — the walk-in is easy; the summit scree is the part to respect. Take the descent slowly.
Conditions change fast on the fells. Check the Lake District Weatherline fell-top forecast before you set off.
Choose your route
Every route is walked in from the valley — there's no start at the crag itself. The classic is the walk from Grange; you can also start from Rosthwaite or Seatoller, and many walkers link them into a circular through the Jaws of Borrowdale.
A popular alternative start. From Grange-in-Borrowdale the riverside path runs south through the Jaws of Borrowdale towards Rosthwaite before turning up onto the crag for the same steep zigzag finish. It's a little longer than the Rosthwaite start — plan it from OS Explorer OL4.
Start: Grange-in-Borrowdale
2.8 miles round trip · 214 m of ascent · about 1¼ hours' walking (longer with time on top). Start at the National Trust car park in Rosthwaite (grid ref NY 257148). Turn right along the lane past the village hall to Yew Tree Farm and its Flock-in tea room, then bear right into the walled lane. At the River Derwent and the ford, don't cross — bear right to New Bridge, cross, and follow the track along the river. After about 200 m, at a small wooded knoll, bear left through the gate and up the stone-pitched path. Pass the old quarry level with its little stone shelter, go through the gap in the wall at the top of the zigzags, and reach the grass col. Bear right to a ladder stile, up to the cairn below the spoil heap, then zigzag up through the slate spoil to the summit quarry — a bizarre field of standing stones. A last grassy pull leads to the summit and its war memorial. Return the same way.
Start: Rosthwaite (NT)
Link Grange and Rosthwaite (or Seatoller) into a loop through the Jaws of Borrowdale, taking in Castle Crag along the way — a fine way to make a half-day of it. Plan the line from OS Explorer OL4.
Grange ↔ Rosthwaite ↔ Seatoller
See the Borrowdale guide and our Lake District walks for how Castle Crag fits with the rest of the valley.
Map
Interactive map © OpenStreetMap contributors — pins mark the Rosthwaite start, Millican Dalton's cave and the summit. Follow the step-by-step directions above for the full route.
Getting there & parking
There is no car park at the crag itself — you walk in from the valley. Three starts are used, all small and busy in high season, so arrive early and check current tariffs on arrival.
The start for the walk from Grange. Grange has only limited roadside and small field parking in the village, so it fills fast — park considerately and don't block lanes or gateways. If it's full, the National Trust car parks up the valley (Rosthwaite, Bowder Stone) charge £1–£7.50 and are free for members.
The National Trust pay-and-display car park in Rosthwaite — the start for the verified route above. Free for NT members; non-members pay at the machine or via the JustPark app (bring coins, signal is limited). The Honister Rambler bus also stops nearby, at the end of the lane towards the crag.
The National Trust Seatoller car park at the head of Borrowdale — a good base for a longer circular. Free for NT members; non-members pay at the machine or via JustPark.
Full valley travel and parking detail lives on the Borrowdale guide.
The Professor of Adventure
On the flank of Castle Crag is one of Borrowdale's most famous shelters: the quarried cave that was the summer home of Millican Dalton (1867–1947), the self-styled "Professor of Adventure." Born into a Quaker family, he gave up a London insurance job in his mid-thirties to live simply and cheaply in the outdoors, and spent his summers here for nearly fifty years in a split-level quarried cave he called the "Cave Hotel." A vegetarian, teetotaller and pacifist, he guided climbing and camping trips, baked his own bread and made his own lightweight tents and rucksacks — decades ahead of their time.
The cave is a genuine curiosity and a natural pairing with a Castle Crag walk. The full story — where it is, how to find it and how it fits with the valley's other caves — lives on our caves guide.
Read about Millican Dalton's cave
The top
The summit of Castle Crag is a rugged little rock platform, ringed by the scars of the old quarries — which cut the same green slate as Honister, from a band of volcanic ash, or tuff, that runs from Honister over Castle Crag to Grange Fell — and open to a superb view north down Borrowdale to Derwentwater. Set into the rock at the top is the Hamer Memorial — a war memorial that gives this small summit a quiet significance.
It remembers 2nd Lieutenant John Hamer and the men of Borrowdale who died in the First World War. The crag itself was given to the National Trust in their memory, so the whole summit stands as the memorial — worth a pause when you reach the top.
Common questions
Keep exploring
The whole valley — Grange, Rosthwaite, Seatoller and the Jaws of Borrowdale.
The giant balanced boulder that sits nearby, just off the route through the valley.
Where Castle Crag — the only one under 1,000ft — sits among the rest.
Millican Dalton's cave and the other quarried caves of Borrowdale.