Castle Crag
Castle Crag is a hill in the North Western Fells of the English Lake District. It is the smallest hill included in Alfred Wainwright's influential Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, the only Wainwright below 1,000 feet.
Plan Around Castle Crag
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Castle Crag Details
Right in the middle of Borrowdale is Castle Crag. It's a rather small but perfectly formed little peak, that managed to resist the erosive valley glacier and remains today with its head high above the trees. Wainwright described it as "so magnificently independent, so ruggedly individual, so aggressively unashamed of its lack of inches". A walk round and up it is a unique experience in the Lake District as no other valley in the area has a similar feature. The fell has an impressive appearance, a rugged height apparently blocking the valley of Borrowdale, which is squeezed between Castle Crag and Grange Fell, its neighbour on the other side. This narrow gorge is known as the "Jaws of Borrowdale", and is prominent in views from Keswick and Derwentwater. High Spy, the parent fell, forms part of the north-south ridge between Borrowdale and the Newlands Valley. The rough spur of Low Scawdel (1,709 ft) runs out due east from the summit, breaking steeply over Goat Crag and then falling to Broadslack Gill. This small tributary of the River Derwent separates High Spy from Castle Crag. From its summit you can peer up and down the valley and take in the grand views that are on offer; then from its flanks you can experience the intimacy of the surrounding woods and river banks. This is essentially a low level walk but the ground under foot is rough in parts with no shelter nearby so dress as you would for higher fells. Grid Reference: NY 24923 15753 Address (near): B5289, Keswick CA12 5XB, UK
Difficulty
Open
Distance
N/A
Estimated time
N/A
Region
Keswick
Nearby Parks Around Castle Crag
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Nearby Points of Interest Around Castle Crag
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0.5 mi away
Bowder Stone
One of Lakeland's most famous features, this 2000 ton stone, some 30 feet high, fifty feet across and ninety feet in circumference, rests in a state of delicate balance.
0.7 mi away
Inside Out Yurts
Two sites at Hollows Farm and Seatoller Farm.
0.8 mi away
Dinah Hoggus Camping Barn
A traditional Lakeland field barn on the outskirts of the village of Rosthwaite.
0.8 mi away
Rosthwaite Round, Fells, Tarn and Beck
This path has a little bit of everything that makes this part of England special: woods, fells, lakes, and the charming town of Watendlath.
