Scar Crags: 672m Height, Ridge Walks and Fell Views

Scar Crags is a ridge fell, best understood in the company of Causey Pike and Sail. At 672m, it offers an airy stretch of high ground above the Newlands valley, without the instantly recognisable summit shape of its eastern neighbour. Walkers often encounter it as part of a longer round, but its open outlook and place in this continuous chain of fells deserve attention in their own right.

A summit on the Causey Pike–Sail ridge

Scar Crags stands between Causey Pike to the east and Sail to the west, within the compact, closely connected landscape of the North Western Fells. Its summit reaches 672m (2,205ft), at grid reference NY208206. The ridge is the key to its character: rather than rising as an isolated peak, Scar Crags forms a distinct high point along a natural line of travel between neighbouring summits.

The contrast with Causey Pike is useful when getting to know the skyline. Causey Pike has a conspicuous, knobbly summit profile; Scar Crags is less emphatic, with a more understated grassy crest above steep flanks. Its name should not suggest that the summit itself is a rocky tower. Much of its appeal lies in the feeling of being on a ridge, with the surrounding dales falling away on either side.

Views across the North Western Fells

The outlook is particularly rewarding for anyone interested in how the local fells fit together. Causey Pike draws the eye eastwards, while Sail rises along the ridge to the west. Beyond Sail lies the higher ground of Eel Crag, also known as Crag Hill. Across the Newlands side, Ard Crags adds another sharply defined ridge to a landscape full of overlapping slopes and summits.

This is not simply a viewpoint for distant landmarks. The nearer ground gives Scar Crags much of its interest: the changing profiles of neighbouring fells, the folds of the valleys and the contrast between grassy ridges and broken crags. Walking the connecting ridge changes those relationships continually. A summit that seems modest on the map becomes a useful place to pause and read the landscape around it.

Its Wainwright place and longer walks

Scar Crags appears in The North Western Fells, Book Six of Alfred Wainwright’s guide to the Lakeland fells. It ranks 102nd by height among the 214 Wainwrights. Its neighbouring Wainwrights include Outerside, Ard Crags, Causey Pike and Sail, putting it within a rich network of potential fell combinations.

It is commonly linked with Causey Pike and Sail, and appears in versions of the Coledale Horseshoe. That name covers walks with differing summit lists, so a dedicated guide is worth consulting before choosing a round. Scar Crags is usually part of a wider ridge day rather than a destination approached in isolation; that connectedness is its defining attraction.

Where Scar Crags stands

Summit at grid reference NY208206 · open full map

The real Scar Crags

Walking Scar Crags

We make artwork, not route guides — these are the guides we'd point a friend to:

• Causey Pike Walk: From Braithwaite, Featuring Sail and ... (paulbeal.com)
• Walking the Causey Pike Round | Explore the Lake District (10adventures.com)
• Robinson and Causey Pike Round, Cumbria, England (alltrails.com)

Weather on Scar Crags

Conditions estimated at summit height (672 m) via Open-Meteo. For a walker's forecast, use the Mountain Weather Information Service.

Scar Crags on your wall

A painting of Scar Crags can bring back the quieter moments of a ridge walk: a pause between summits, shifting cloud and the familiar line towards Sail. On paper or canvas, that understated skyline offers a lasting connection to days among the North Western Fells.

Own “Snowy Ridge at Scar Crags” — our painting of Scar Crags → or browse all Fells & Mountains artwork

Neighbouring Wainwrights in The North Western Fells

• Outerside 568 m
• Ard Crags 581 m
• Causey Pike 637 m
• Sail 773 m

Part of our guide to all 214 Wainwrights — see the full index.