Great Castle How

Overlooking the Easedale valley near Grasmere, this rugged, heathery outcrop serves as a fine vantage point on the approach to Blea Rigg. While often bypassed for higher ground, the summit offers a complex, rocky character and an intimate perspective of the surrounding Lakeland crags.

• •The name combines the Old Norse 'haugr', meaning a hill or mound, with 'Castle', a common Lakeland descriptor for a fell with a craggy, fortress-like profile rather than any actual defensive structure.
• •This summit is classified as a Synge, a list compiled by Tim Synge in his 1995 guide, which identifies Lakeland peaks over 300 metres with at least 15 metres of prominence.
• •From the summit, you get a particularly sharp profile of Helm Crag’s 'Lion and the Lamb' formation across the Easedale valley, backed by the higher rise of Fairfield and the Eastern Fells.
• •Most walkers encounter this top as a brief detour while traversing the undulating, often boggy ridge between the popular Silver How and the higher ground of Blea Rigg.
• •Despite being titled 'Great', it stands over 200 metres lower than the modestly named Little Hart Crag located just a few miles to the east.