Great Saddle Crag

About Great Saddle Crag

Tucked away in the quiet Shap Fells, this grassy dome offers a remote walking experience far from the Lake District’s crowded hubs. As the high point of the Wet Sleddale Horseshoe, it provides a silent vantage point over the nearby reservoir and the rolling eastern moorland toward the Pennines.

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Did You Know?

• •The name is derived from the Old Norse 'kragg', referring to the rocky outcrops on its northern face, though the summit itself is a broad, peat-covered plateau typical of the Far Eastern fells.
• •Alfred Wainwright included this summit in his 'Wet Sleddale Horseshoe' chapter in The Outlying Fells of Lakeland, recommending a clockwise circuit starting from the reservoir dam.
• •The summit provides an excellent perspective on the northern end of Longsleddale, with a clear view across to the massive bulk of Harter Fell and the steep-sided valley of Mosedale.
• •The fell is situated within the Shap Fells Site of Special Scientific Interest, protected for its extensive blanket bog and heathland habitats that support specialized moorland birds like the golden plover.
• •While the name promises a 'Great' crag, many walkers find the most formidable feature to be the 'Great' depth of the Mosedale mosses that must be navigated on the approach.