Scar Crags

About Scar Crags

Rising as a sharp, narrow ridge between Sail and Causey Pike, this Wainwright is defined by the steep, broken precipices on its southern flank. While its northern slopes are grassy and gentle, the summit path offers a dramatic, airy perspective over the deep trough of the Newlands Valley.

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Did You Know?

• •The name is a linguistic doubling of the landscape's character, combining the Old Norse 'skör' (a cliff or mountain edge) with the Middle English 'crag', both referencing the shattered rock faces that drop vertically from the summit ridge into Rigg Beck.
• •Alfred Wainwright described the fell as a 'delightful ridge', though he noted the contrast between the smooth northern grass and the southern precipices, which he considered a fine example of the Lake District's geological dual personality.
• •The summit provides an exceptional vantage point for studying the Newlands fells, offering a clear, eye-level perspective across the valley to the high ridges of Robinson, Hindscarth, and the northern face of Dale Head.
• •The fell is a key link in the popular Coledale Round; its narrow, linear crest serves as the high-level bridge between the distinctive 'knobs' of Causey Pike and the steep, engineered zig-zags that climb the eastern shoulder of Sail.
• •While the southern face is a dramatic wall of rock that demands respect, the northern side is a featureless grassy slope so gentle it could almost be mistaken for a municipal park—provided you ignore the six-hundred-metre drop on the other side.