{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Eagle Crag | image = Eagle_Crag_from_Stonethwaite_Valley.jpg | image_caption = Eagle Crag seen from the Stonethwaite valley | elevation = ''c.'' {{convert|521|m|ft|abbr=on}} | prominence = ''c.'' 25 m | parent_peak = [[Sergeant's Crag]] | listing = [[List of Wainwrights|Wainwright]] | location = [[Cumbria]], [[England]] | range = [[Lake District]], [[Central Fells]] | coordinates = {{coord|54.49902|N|3.12097|W|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | grid_ref_UK = NY275121 | topo = [[Ordnance Survey|OS]] ''Explorer'' OL4 | map = United Kingdom Lake District | map_caption = Location in lake District, UK }}

[[Image:Stonethwaite valley from Eagle Crag.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The view NW from the summit down the Stonethwaite valley.]] '''Eagle Crag''' is a [[fell]] in the [[Lake District]] in [[Cumbria]], [[England]], it is situated near the village of [[Stonethwaite]] where the valleys of Langstrath and Greenup join. Impressive walls of crag look down upon Stonethwaite, making Eagle Crag the most arresting sight from that settlement. It can be climbed direct by the average walker, picking a route between the rock faces.

==Topography== The fell has not been given an official height by the [[Ordnance Survey]] and is given various heights by several other sources ranging between 520&nbsp;and 525&nbsp;metres. [[Bill Birkett]] gives the fell a height of {{convert|521|m|ft|abbr=off}} in his ''Complete Lakeland Fells''.<ref name="birkett">Bill Birkett (1994), ''Complete Lakeland Fells'', HarperCollinsWillow, {{ISBN|0-00-713629-3}}</ref> [[Alfred Wainwright]] gave the height at {{convert|1,650|ft|m|abbr=off}} approx in his ''[[Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells]]'' in 1958, in which he writes:

{{blockquote|Eagle Crag is so splendidly situated, so nobly proportioned and of so arresting appearance that it is a far worthier object than the parent fell (High Raise) rising behind.<ref name="wainwright">{{cite book |author=Wainwright, A |author-link=Alfred Wainwright |title= [[Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells|A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells]], Book 3 The Central Fells |publisher= Westmorland Gazette |year= 1958}}</ref>}}

Eagle Crag is part of the craggy termination of the northern ridge of the higher fell of [[High Raise (Langdale)|High Raise]] and it presents a spectacular sight when viewed from the Stonethwaite valley. It is linked to [[Sergeant's Crag]] which is just under a kilometre away to the south by a ridge along which runs a [[dry stone wall]] which acts as navigation guide for walkers between the two tops.

==Geology== The summit area is formed of the welded [[rhyolitic]] [[lapilli tuff]], tuff and [[breccia]] of the Crinkle Member. Patches of rhyolite outcrop lower down the slope.<ref name="BGS">[[British Geological Survey]]: 1:50,000 series, sheet 29: BGS (1999)</ref>

==Summit== A small [[cairn]] marks the summit, balanced on a tilted slab of rock, with crags a few yards distant to west and north. A corner in the dry stone wall is a couple of minutes walk away southward. The view from the top of the fell is best to the north and west with [[Borrowdale]] and the Langstrath valley and the fells around them being well seen.

==Ascents== Eagle Crag is usually climbed from Stonethwaite; it can be combined with the higher fells of High Raise and [[Ullscarf]] as well as the nearby Sergeant's Crag. A direct ascent of the fell seems to be impossible when it is viewed from the Stonethwaite valley, with vertical walls of crags seemingly barring the way. However, a route can be found through the crags to attain the summit directly. Descents by this route are not recommended because of the dangerous crags which cannot be seen from above. An easier ascent follows the [[Rights of way in England and Wales|bridleway]] up Greenup Gill; this well-blazed trail is part of Wainwright's [[Coast to Coast Walk]]. The route leaves the [[Rights of way in England and Wales|bridleway]] at height of 330&nbsp;metres and attains the fell by cutting back on itself and climbing steep grassy slopes to the summit.<ref name="birkett"/><ref name="wainwright"/>

==Rock climbing== The crags directly beneath the summit are used by [[Climbing|rock climbers]] with climbs [[Grade (climbing)|graded]] in the [[Grade (climbing)#British|''extreme'' and ''very severe'']] categories.

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Central Fells}}

[[Category:Fells of the Lake District]]