Great Carrs
785m (2576ft)
The Southern Fells, The Lake District, Cumbria, England
You can find Great Carrs & all the walks that climb it on these unique free-to-access Interactive Walk Planning Maps: (click/TAP to select)
1:25,000 scale OS Explorer Map (the ones with orange/yellow covers):
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See Great Carrs and the surrounding tops on our free-to-access 'Google Style' Peak Bagging Maps:
See Great Carrs and the surrounding tops on our downloadable PDF Peak Bagging Maps:
*Walk & bag all 30 Wainwrights in The Southern Fells area of The Lake District in just 11 easy-to-follow circular walks.
*This version is marked with the walk routes you need to follow to Walk all 214 Wainwrights in just 59 walks. Click here for more information.
NB: Whether you print off a copy on to paper or download it to your phone, these PDF Peak Baggers Maps will prove incredibly useful when your are up there on the tops and you cannot get a phone signal!
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 8ml (12km) |
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| Ascent: | 3,042ft (927m) |
| Time: | 5.75hrs |
| Grade: |  (Moderate) |
Route Summary:
Fell Foot Bridge - Little Langdale - Hollin Crag - Wet Side Edge - Little Carrs - Great Carrs - Swirl How - Swirl Hawse - Keld Gill Head - Black Sails - Red Dell Head Moss - Wetherlam - Wetherlam Edge - Birk Fell - Greenburn Beck - Fell Foot Bridge
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 8.75ml (14km) |
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| Ascent: | 3,584ft (1,092m) |
| Time: | 6.75hrs |
| Grade: |  (Hard) |
Route Summary:
Low Tilberthwaite - Above Beck Fells - Hole Rake - Red Gill Head Moss - Steel Edge - Lad Stones - Wetherlam - Red Dell Head Moss - Black Sails - Keld Gill Head - Swirl Hawse - Prison Band - Swirl How - Great Carrs - Little Carrs - Hell Gill Pike - Wet Side Edge - High End - Greenburn Beck - Low Tilberthwaite
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 9.5ml (15km) |
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| Ascent: | 3,523ft (1,074m) |
| Time: | 7 hrs |
| Grade: | (Hard) |
Route Summary:
Walna Scar Road (nr Seathwaite (Duddon Valley) - Long Houses - Brown Pike - Dow Crag - Goat's Hawse - The Old Man of Coniston - Brim Fell - Levers Hawse - Swirl Band - Swirl How - Great Carrs - Grey Friar - Seathwaite Tarn - Walna Scar Road.
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 12.75ml (20.5km) |
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| Ascent: | 4,191ft (1,277m) |
| Time: | 8.75hrs |
| Grade: |  (Hard) |
Route Summary:
Coniston - Walna Scar Road - Boo Tarn - Torver Beck - Cove Bridge - Goat's Water - Goat's Hawse - Dow Crag - Goat's Hawse - The Old Man of Coniston - Brim Fell - Levers Hawse - Grey Friar - Great Carrs - Swirl How - Prison Band - Keld Gill Head - Black Sails - Wetherlam - Swirl Hawse - Levers Water - Crowberry Haws - Walna Scar Road - Coniston
Fellow go4awalkers who have already walked, climbed, summited & bagged Great Carrs
Sarah Gunn walked up on July 27th, 2025 [with] Martin Gunn
John Ramsbottom climbed it on September 22nd, 2024 [from/via/route] Dow Cragg, The Old Man of Coniston,Brim Fell,Swirl How, Great Carrs & Grey Friar [with] Lola [weather] Mainly warm & Sunny - Good day with & Lola, went to Wilson Inn Tover, for a quick pint
Clare Tait bagged it on August 14th, 2024 [from/via/route] Our no:101 Wainwright. A beautiful day once again. Fantastic views all around including the Scafells. Early start from Wrynose. Managed parking from the start of the path. Found the climb up & down from Wet Stone Edge steep but manageable. Carried on to Swirl How & the memorial. [with] Charlie [weather] Sun 🌞
Tim Winn hiked it on July 24th, 2024 [from/via/route] Coniston [with] Simon [weather] Sunny & clear.
Neil Heywood summited on September 6th, 2014 [from/via/route] Torver [with] Logan Heywood
Christine Shepherd conquered it on July 31st, 2007 [from/via/route] Using walk c420 from Coniston [with] On my own [weather] Sunny & clear - Bagged this again on a much colder day with my daughter Rebecca on 31.3.08 & on my own again on a sunny Autumn day on 1.10.11. Did the Coniston Seven again on 4.8.23 in wonderful walking weather.
James Hughes scaled on March 27th, 2023 [from/via/route] Walna Scar Road, Brown Pike, Dow Crag, Old Man Coniston, Brim Fell, Swirl How, Great Carrs, Grey Friar [with] Solo [weather] Clear, sun beginning to have some warmth, but cold on tops. Very boggy descent. - Awesome, if not brutal climb. Completed within 5 hoursish. Pint of Keswick Gold Bitter at Newfield Inn.
John Tippins walked up on October 23rd, 2022 [from/via/route] From Seathwaite (c179) [with] Alone [weather] Very low cloud, continual rain & strong winds almost all day.
Richard Marchant climbed it on September 15th, 2022 [from/via/route] Parked at Wrynose Pass & walked straight up to Great Carrs over Little Carrs & then on to Grey Friar & back the same route. [with] On my Own [weather] Clear day with little or no breeze.
Ian Ashton bagged it on July 9th, 2022 [from/via/route] Part of seathwaite Round [with] SOLO
Geoff Hand hiked it on April 20th, 2022 [from/via/route] Walk c179 The Seathwaite Round Pt2 Brim Fell, Swirl How, Great Carrs & Grey Friar [with] Alone with Tess [weather] Another glorious sunny & warm day (ridiculous for this time of year!) - Second part of 2 goes at this walk. upto Seathwaite tarn, on to Goat's Hawse then on to Brim Fell, Swirl How, Great Carrs & Grey Friar. Great day out.
Kevin Foster summited on September 6th, 2021 [from/via/route] Low Tilberthwaite. [with] By myself. [weather] Cloudy. Summits mostly covered. Good visibility on lower slopes. - An interesting route onto Wetherlam via Steel Edge. The one Wainwright doesn't mention in his books for some reason? Don't know why because it's a cracking way up. Sadly on Prison Band the cloud level was reached & the rest of the walk was view less. Of interest on route was the war memorial & Halifax bomber crash site between Swirl How & Great Carrs. The views opened up again on the descent of wet side edge & the clouds & sunshine poking through made for some great photos. I climbed Great Carrs a few days later (17th) in glorious sunshine. Good visibility & amazing views in contrast to the previous week's visit.
Pete George conquered it on July 17th, 2021 [with] Roco [weather] Sunny & Hot
Andrew Flynn scaled on August 10th, 2021 [from/via/route] Coniston. Walk number 19. The Coniston Fells [with] Nicola [weather] Sunny
Neil Bennett walked up on July 23rd, 2021 [from/via/route] Climbed Great Carrs, Swirl How & Grey Friar from the Wrynose Pass. Our starting point was the Three Shires Stone, taking the path up Wet Side Edge & returning via the same route. [with] Pam Bennett, Oliver Bennett, Thomas Bennett. [weather] Hot & Sunny.
Jeremy Torrance climbed it on September 25th, 2020 [from/via/route] Jon, Stu, Tim. Poor Ash was poorly. [with] Duncan and Johann
Richard Marshall bagged it on June 4th, 2021 [from/via/route] Dow Crag [with] Dave Elsie and Roxy [weather] Cloudy/Sunny warm
Wayne Baxter hiked it on April 25th, 2021 [from/via/route] From Wrynose pass, park near three shire stone (be early limited parking) Head to wet side edge follow cairns to Great Carrs. Pass the memorial to the Canadians pilots who crashed in the second world war & follow a well defined path to Grey Friar. You can return by bypassing Great Carr back to the parking area. [with] Sue [weather] Sunny
Jill Dean summited on September 20th, 2020 [from/via/route] Staying in Coniston. Walk was a bit too far! [with] Grez & dexter [weather] Lovely day - Found a few trackables in geocaches
John Fenwick conquered it on September 12th, 2020 [from/via/route] Walked from car park bottom of Walna Scar Road, Seathwaite & Duddon Valley. Followed walk c179 but went clockwise by mistake. [with] Romany [weather] Cloudy, super windy up top - Good circular walk. Easy to follow
Stephen Eddy scaled on August 7th, 2020 [from/via/route] Coniston [with] Mike Woodhouse, Tony Harris, Martin Bayliss [weather] cloudy - After the old man
Paul Macey walked up on July 11th, 2020 [from/via/route] Via grey friar [weather] Over caste windy on summit
Andrew Johnson climbed it on November 14th, 2019 [from/via/route] Coniston [weather] Some cloud, very windy, snow & ice on tops - Scary descent of Swirl How ridge.
Christina Lander bagged it on June 29th, 2019 [from/via/route] Three Shires Stone - Wet Side Edge - Little Carrs - Great Carrs - Grey Friar - Little Carrs - Three Shires Stone [with] Dick & Meg [weather] Warm with sunny spells.
Elaine Evans hiked it on February 11th, 2019 [from/via/route] From car park at Low Tilberthwaite, via Tilberthwaite Gill & Dry Cove Bottom, then ascent via Wetherlam Edge, continued to Swirl How via Prison Band then on to Great Carrs before descending along West Side Edge & back to car park. [with] Sue and Christine [weather] Very good weather for walking, dry & clear, good visibility. - Oh dear! Scramble up Wetherlam Edge was a bit tricky, made more difficult due to snow underfoot & unclear route to top.......but we did it! Prison Band looked more challenging than it was - a pleasant surprise after Wetherlam Edge!
David Watson summited on August 29th, 2018 [from/via/route] Coniston [weather] Sunny
Phillip Bulley conquered it on September 4th, 2018 [from/via/route] Via Grey Friars. [with] Ruby. [weather] Sunny
Vic Royle scaled on May 26th, 2018 [from/via/route] With Swirl Howe from Irish Cottageville [with] Team Wiggle [weather] T-shirt time until the top - Sick Mink pre peak jitters, Ulverston tapas gin, bank holiday wiggle, bun raid on Greggs was a game of 2 halves. Ulverston ice hunt
John Bryers walked up on May 13th, 2018 [from/via/route] Walna Scar Road [with] Janet Bryers, David, Janine and Freya Gray. With Mya and Jazz [weather] Sunny & warm with a cool breeze on ridges
Caroline Winter climbed it on April 11th, 2018 [from/via/route] Wrynose pass, Great Carrs, Grey Friar, Swirl How, Black sails, Wetherlam [with] Becky [weather] Cloud lifted & great views late morning/afternoon, breezy on ascent to Hell Gill Pike - Busy up here. Some off to Coniston from Swirl Hawse, we some how missed plane debris on Great Carrs! Lost time on descent of Prison Band & detour off path to Black Sails. Also, after rocky scramble decent.....ended up on the minor track to the mines, & boy was it steep & never ending. We were in dismay at another climb to get back over to Wet Side. Late for booked meal, but fantastic circuit
Graham Coules bagged it on April 23rd, 2017 [weather] Perfect
Iain Jones hiked it on July 29th, 2015 [from/via/route] Great Langdale National Trust Campsite - 27 August 2017 - The Wainwright 60 - Day 7 (Coniston)
Andrew Joss summited on July 23rd, 2017 [from/via/route] Coniston [with] Barbara [weather] Sunny with a little cloud
Simon Boddy conquered it on June 30th, 2017 [from/via/route] Torver [with] HF Holidays [weather] Breezy & cool with low cloud turning warm & sunny later.
Nick Dobson scaled on May 28th, 2017 [from/via/route] the top of Wrynose Pass [with] Margaret & Ralph [weather] Hot & sunny with some cloud hovering on the higher tops - excellent views all round which became hidden due to cloud cover for around 70% of the view. then took the short ridge route I'm cloud to Swirl How.
Chris Sheard walked up on September 4th, 2015 [from/via/route] Ridge from Swirl How [with] George & Arron [weather] Cool on top - Good ridge day
Mark Davidson climbed it on June 11th, 2005 [with] Theresa, Ann & Kevin [weather] Lovely & sunny
Charlie Housley bagged it on May 21st, 2016 [from/via/route] Parked up at the Three Shire Stone for a circuit of Grey Friar, Great Carrs, Swirl How, Black Sails & Wetherlam. [with] Candy the dog. [weather] Atrocious; horizontal hale, 50mph gusts & low cloud. Challenging.
Colin Millar hiked it on April 16th, 2016 [from/via/route] Old Man from Coppermines [weather] Fair
Tony Rogerson summited on May 25th, 2011 [from/via/route] Brown Pike Buck Pike Dow Crag & Old Man [weather] High cloud & sunny spells
Anthony Scott conquered it on September 22nd, 2015 [from/via/route] Coppermines Valley [with] me [weather] Sunny, some white cloud & occasional mist, but 14 degrees & almost perfect
Tracey Cowell scaled on September 4th, 2015 [from/via/route] Three shire stones/grey friar/swirl how/ great carrs [with] Solo [weather] Sunny & some cloud
Kevin Parnham walked up on August 21st, 2015 [from/via/route] From Seathwaite via Dow Crag Swirl How [with] Jo and Charlotte [weather] very wet almost all day
Rob Cheshire climbed it on August 23rd, 2015 [from/via/route] Starting from Three Shire Stone, horseshoe route including Great Carrs, Swirl Howl, Black Sails & Wetherlam. [with] Solo [weather] Warm & sunny, with a moderate haze.
Wendy John bagged it on August 8th, 2015 [from/via/route] Coniston, Brown Pike, Buck Pike, Dow Crags, Great Hawse, Brim Fell, Great Crags [with] Chris Bunce [weather] sunny
David Noble hiked it on May 23rd, 2015 [from/via/route] Walna Road [with] Chris [weather] Bright sunny day
Leon Harvey summited on April 5th, 2015 [from/via/route] c179 [with] Solo [weather] Sunny
Andrew Martin conquered it on November 22nd, 2014 [from/via/route] coniston
Ann Davis scaled on September 24th, 2014 [from/via/route] dungeon ghyll up wrynose [weather] sunny - stunning day great views of scafell massiv
Dave Eyes walked up on August 22nd, 2014 [from/via/route] From Coniston Village via Wetherlam & Swirl How [with] Christine Eyes [weather] Sunny
Andy James climbed it on August 4th, 2014 [from/via/route] C179
Keith Eastman bagged it on July 21st, 2014 [from/via/route] c179
Craig Steeland hiked it on July 15th, 2014 [from/via/route] From Coniston village via Swirl How [with] On my own [weather] Warm & sunny with low wind. Perfect!
Marcus Bradshaw summited on April 24th, 2014 [from/via/route] Dow Crag , old Man , brim Fell , Swirl How , great Carrs , Grey Friar . [with] marcus [weather] sunny
Michael Vaughn conquered it on July 17th, 2013 [from/via/route] coniston [with] alone [weather] clear
Doug Martin scaled on June 4th, 2014 [from/via/route] Low Tilberthwaite - Wetherlam - Swirl How - Greenburn Round [with] Fellwalkers [weather] Fine until coffee break then continuous rain with low cloud until end of walk. - Hard pull up to Wetherlam made the Prison Band to Swirl How seem innocuous.
Steve Frank walked up on April 20th, 2013 [from/via/route] Coniston Fold [with] Jackie Frank
Harry Meijer climbed it on June 4th, 2014 [from/via/route] Wetherlam from Little Langdale [with] The Lake District Walker
Clive Ward bagged it on April 13th, 2013 [from/via/route] From Tilberthwaite, Grrnburn Beck, Swirl How, Wetherlam, Birk Hawse [with] Hazel [weather] Misty to start then bright. Lots of snow on tops making it hard going. - Difficult descent down Wetherlam Edge
Jan Dixon hiked it on August 25th, 2013 [from/via/route] Coniston Old Man, Brim Fell [with] Anya Dixon [weather] Sunny & Hot
John Nicholson summited on October 16th, 2010 [from/via/route] walk c179 The Seathwaite Round from Seathwaite, Duddon Valley
Martin Corbett conquered it on June 1st, 2013 [from/via/route] Wetherlam [with] Jemima [weather] Sunny but cool
Dale Verrall scaled on May 4th, 2009 [from/via/route] Coniston [with] Donna Griffin [weather] Very windy
David Lane walked up on August 19th, 2010 [with] Kelly
Iain Taylor climbed it on November 8th, 2009 [from/via/route] Coniston (SD 30001 97460)
Darren Mortimer bagged it on July 8th, 2012 [from/via/route] Coniston [with] Dermot Palmer [weather] Wet & Misty
Linda Walker hiked it on May 19th, 2012 [from/via/route] Seathwaite, via Grey Friar & round to Dow Crag - camped at Turner Hall camp site - excellent
Chris Bramley summited on May 20th, 2012 [from/via/route] Wyrestone pass [with] Janet and neve [weather] Sunny spells - Went wrong on descent from wetheram
Christine Knowles conquered it on April 28th, 2010 [from/via/route] Fell Foot Farm, Wmtherlan [with] Graham [weather] Windy
Stephen Byrne, Dawn Roberts, David Hallam, Katherine Bonner, Patrick Rogozinski, Jenny Godfrey, Clare Houlihan, Tracy Corbett, Wendy Sockett, Michael Austin, Melanie Dunn, David Kelley, Louise Sandwith, Trevor Longman, Jo Dixon, David Shaw, John Walter, David Laws, Claire Rigg, Elaine Grayson, Simon Clark, Stephanie King, David Butterfield, Louis Smith, Jonathan Tobin, Patricia Dilley, Simon Duerden, Colin Egan, Michael Nolan, Paul Booth, Peter Clark, David Hickin, Gordon Lee, Lee Maddison, Linda Mckeogh, Trevor Williams, John Kendall, Libby Burns, John Cuthbert, Matthew Thomas, Les Bennett, Patrick Buckland, David Kelley, John Southward, Stephen Millington, Chris Bede, Rob Barklamb, Andy Nicholls, Paul Warren, Jeanette Coward, Adam Shewry, Ray O'hara, Martin Cowell and Steve Davenport have all walked, climbed & bagged Great Carrs.To add (or remove) your name and experiences on this page - Log On and edit your Personal Mountain Bagging Record
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More Photographs & Pictures of views from, on or of Great Carrs
Snow on Black Sails summit cairn with Great Carrs (centre left) and Scafell Pike (far right) in the background
*Loft Crag (foreground far left), Lingmoor, Blea Tarn, Pike of Blisco (Pike o' Blisco), Cold Pike and Crinkle Crags (featuring Crinkle Crags (South Top), Crinkle Crags (Long Top) and Gunson Knott) (mid-distance left to right) and Wetherlam, Great Carrs and Grey Friar (far-distance centre to right) from the summit of Pike of Stickle (Langdale Pikes)
The S for Sugar Aircraft Crash Memorial between Swirl How, Great Carrs and Grey Friar
. . . see all 32 walk photographs & pictures of views from, on or of Great Carrs
Send us your photographs and pictures on, of, or from Great Carrs
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