Great Crag is a

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...

in the English

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

, located near the hamlets of Rosthwaite and Stonethwaite in

Borrowdale Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland, England. It is in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, and is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' to distinguis ...

Topography

The higher slopes are heather-covered and quite rocky, while the lower steep slopes on the Borrowdale side are covered by a mature

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

wood. Half a kilometre south-east of the summit lies the attractive Dock Tarn which is often visited by walkers on their way to or from Great Crag.Don Blair: ''Exploring Lakeland Tarns'': Lakeland Manor Press (2003): At 440 metres (1,444 ft), Great Crag is not high by Lake District standards, and its small

topographic prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

means that it is essentially a minor summit on the broad north-western slopes of

Ullscarf Ullscarf is a fell in the English Lake District close to the geographical centre of the Cumbrian hills. It forms part of the watershed between the Derwentwater and Thirlmere catchments, a ridge running broadly north-south. Topography Ullsc ...

. However, its rocky summit stands out amid the relatively featureless

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

and is the culmination of a steep slope rising out of Borrowdale; this ensures that it is considered a fell in its own right, and it is given this status in

Alfred Wainwright Alfred Wainwright Order of the British Empire, MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalking, fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial ...

Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells ''A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'' is a series of seven books by A. Wainwright, detailing the fells (the local word for hills and mountains) of the Lake District in northwest England. Written over a period of 13 years from 1952, they ...

Geology

The summit area is composed of the

plagioclase Plagioclase ( ) is a series of Silicate minerals#Tectosilicates, tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continu ...

-phyric

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

s of the Birker Fell Formation with the andesitic

lapilli tuff Lapilli (: lapillus) is a size classification of tephra, which is material that falls out of the air during a volcanic eruption or during some meteorite impacts. ''Lapilli'' is Latin for "little stones". By definition lapilli range from in diam ...

of the Wet Side Edge Member outcropping to the south. Small intrusions of

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

are also present.British Geological Survey: 1:50,000 series maps, ''England & Wales Sheet 29'': BGS (1999)

Ascents

Ascents of Great Crag can be started from the hamlets of Rosthwaite, Stonethwaite or Watendlath. The Rosthwaite route uses the bridleway to Watendlath until the highest point is reached then goes southerly over

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

gy moorland and then more firmer rocky ground to reach the summit. The Stonethwaite path climbs steeply through woodland before reaching Dock Tarn; it is then a short ascent from the tarn north-westwards to the summit. These two routes can be combined to make a circular walk starting and finishing in Rosthwaite. The ascent from Watendlath utilises the popular path to Dock Tarn which has been diverted by signposts to avoid the worst of the boggy ground to the north of the fell; this path takes the walker very close to the summit and it is a simple climb through heather to attain the highest point.Mark Richards: ''The Central Fells'': Collins (2003): Bill Birkett: ''Complete Lakeland Fells'': HarperCollinsWillow (1994):

Summit

The highest point of the fell is difficult to ascertain as there are two tops of very similar height marked by

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

s. The view from the top is not extensive but there is a good prospect of Borrowdale with the higher fells behind.

: ''

, Book 3 The Central Fells'': Westmorland Gazette (1958):

References

{{Central Fells Fells of the Lake District Cumberland (unitary authority)