Grey Crag, Harrop Pike and Tarn Crag

Overview

About Grey Crag, Harrop Pike and Tarn Crag

Why go

Four summit tops in one quiet circuit
Big views up Longsleddale and across the eastern fells

Heads up

Boggy ground across the high traverse
Small parking area and a narrow approach road
Rough gully and faint navigation in mist

Map & elevation

The route

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Full map

Elevation209–660 m

TrailheadGrey Crag, Harrop Pike and Tarn Crag54.44429, -2.79787

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Plan your hike

Before you go

Parking

Use the informal pull-in east of the bridge at Sadgill, where the tarmac road ends and Gatescarth Pass begins. It holds only around half a dozen cars spread along the rough track. The final approach through Longsleddale is narrow with few passing places. Do not block the bridge, track, gates, or residents' access.

Best time to go

Allow about 4 to 5 hours with stops. The climb out of Sadgill is sustained, and the rough gully, boggy traverse, peat hags, and open-fell navigation make this a solid 6/10 hike even though none of the individual summits is technically difficult. The ground between Grey Crag and Harrop Pike can be very wet, while the crossing by Greycrag Tarn is often firmer but should not be assumed dry. In mist, the path becomes hard to pick out. Low-angle morning or late-day light brings out the texture in the cairns, bracken, and peat, but the summits are exposed to wind and fast-changing mountain weather.

Safety

The climb through the gully is steep and rough. The high traverse has boggy ground, peat hags, and a faint path that becomes difficult to follow in mist. The open summits are exposed, and the crossing around Greycrag Tarn can be wet. Keep dogs on a short lead around livestock and during the seasonal open-access restriction.

8 active Lake District alerts

ClosureChapel Stile footpath closed for retaining-wall riskPart of Footpath 543030 between Chapel Stile and Baysbrown campsite is closed because a retaining wall beside the path could collapse and material it supports could fall across the footpath.Official details
ClosureStanley Ghyll Lower Falls footpath closed for rockfallThe section of Footpath 408037 leading towards Stanley Ghyll Lower Falls is closed because severe rockfall damage has made the path unstable and further rockfall remains a danger.Official details

See all 8 alerts

A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone — Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Lake District Tour Guide

Your drive to Grey Crag, Harrop Pike and Tarn Crag, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Lake District National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

Recorded for this trailhead

Sadgill: Grey Crag and Tarn Crag

0:00 / 1:03

“Sadgill is coming up, at the head of Longsleddale and the start of a quiet fell circuit over Grey Crag, Harrop Pike and Tarn Crag. The full loop is seven miles, so allow four to five hours for the walking and stops.”

Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Lake District Tour Guide.

Hiking Grey Crag, Harrop Pike and Tarn Crag

The routeThis is a 7.0-mile (11.3 km) loop from Sadgill.

This is a 7.0-mile (11.3 km) loop from Sadgill. The stored distance is the complete loop, not an out-and-back. Start beside the bridge, pass through the gate into the field, and climb through bracken and a rough gully to Great Howe. Continue beside the wall and fence to Grey Crag, make the short boggy detour to Harrop Pike, then return to the fence and cross the ground around Greycrag Tarn to Tarn Crag. From there, descend by the fence through peat hags to the top of the Mosedale to Longsleddale pass, turn onto Gatescarth Pass, and follow the track back to Sadgill.

What it feels likeThis is a remote fell walk rather than a manicured trail.

This is a remote fell walk rather than a manicured trail. The lower climb is grassy and steep in places, with shoulder-high summer bracken and a rough rocky gully. Higher up, the surface becomes open peat moorland with short stretches of firmer grass around the summit cairns. The main payoffs are the changing views along Longsleddale, the broad eastern fell country, and the three distinct summit stops. A tall survey pillar near Tarn Crag is a reminder of the 1930s waterworks built around Haweswater. The high ground also makes a useful landscape transition: peatier eastern moors give way to the rockier fells farther west.

Access and dogsSadgill sits at the end of a narrow approach through Longsleddale.

Sadgill sits at the end of a narrow approach through Longsleddale. Dogs may use the route, but this is not an off-lead walk: keep them under close control around livestock, and on a lead no longer than two metres on open access land from 1 March to 31 July. The same short-lead rule applies around livestock at any time. For a different experience nearby, the lower Longsleddale valley walk is gentler and greener, while this circuit is the better choice for summit views and quiet open fell.

Wildlife

Wildlife in Lake District

All Lake District wildlife maps

81 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map

13 sightingsEurasian OtterMost seen around 6 AMSighting map

76 sightingsOspreyMost seen around 8 AMSighting map

51 sightingsEuropean BadgerMost seen around 8 PMSighting map

233 sightingsMute SwanMost seen around 6 PMSighting map

176 sightingsGrey HeronMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Lake District. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.