Raven Crag is a fell

Fell

“Fell” is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of northern England.- Etymology :...

 in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 Lake District

Lake District

The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...

. It acts as a superb vantage point for, and backdrop to, views across Thirlmere

Thirlmere

Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District. It runs roughly south to north, with a dam at the northern end, and is bordered on the eastern side by the A591 road and on the western side by a minor road....

 reservoir.

Topography

The fell

Fell

“Fell” is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of northern England.- Etymology :...

 is the high point on a 2 mile long spur running up the western shore of Thirlmere, branching off from the main ridge of the central fells just east of High Tove

High Tove

High Tove is a fell in the English Lake District, close to the geographical centre of the Cumbrian hills. It forms part of the watershed between the Derwentwater and Thirlmere catchments, a ridge running broadly north-south.-Topography:...

. Subsidiary tops include The Benn (also known as Benn Man, 1,463 ft) and Castle Crag (1,381 ft), the site of an iron-age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 settlement. The ridge has been extensively planted with conifers as part of the Thirlmere Forest, the face of Raven Crag appearing as a lone oasis of naked rock amid the trees.

Raven Crag is bordered to the west by the long valley of Shoulthwaite Gill, which is a tributary of the River Greta. To the north the ridge drops to a depression, crossed by the Keswick

Keswick, Cumbria

Keswick is a market town and civil parish within the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It had a population of 4,984, according to the 2001 census, and is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...

 - Ambleside

Ambleside

Ambleside is a town in Cumbria, in North West England.Historically within the county of Westmorland, it is situated at the head of Windermere, England's largest lake...

 road, before climbing again onto High Rigg

High Rigg

High Rigg is a small fell located in the English Lake District, approximately three miles southeast of the town of Keswick. It occupies an unusual position, surrounded on all sides by higher fells but not connected by any obvious ridge...

.

Geology

Raven Crag and the Benn exhibit rock of the Birker Fell Formation, composed of plagioclase

Plagioclase

Plagioclase is an important series of tectosilicate minerals within the feldspar family. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a solid solution series, more properly known as the plagioclase feldspar series...

-phyric andesite

Andesite

Andesite is an extrusive igneous, volcanic rock, of intermediate composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between basalt and dacite. The mineral assemblage is typically dominated by plagioclase plus pyroxene and/or hornblende. Magnetite,...

 lava

Lava

Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...

s with subordinate sills. Between the two is an area of garnet

Garnet

The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...

 bearing porphyritic

Porphyritic

Porphyritic is an adjective used in geology, specifically for igneous rocks, for a rock that has a distinct difference in the size of the crystals, with at least one group of crystals obviously larger than another group...

 andesite. Castle Crag Fort overlays volcaniclastic sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

.

Ascents

The main face of the fell stands over Thirlmere Dam, and appears from there as a sheer 500 ft crag, the higher fells behind being hidden by the ridge. Raven Crag is most commonly climbed from the dam, via a steep waymarked path through the forestry. This ends with made paths and some short sections of boardwalk. The ridge between Raven Crag and High Tove can also be gained from Armboth, or an ascent can be made from 'behind' via Shoulthwaite. This can include visits to The Benn and the earth ramparts of Castle Crag.

Summit and View

The highest point is an outcrop of rock with a small cairn

Cairn

Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...

, partially screened by conifers.
The view from the summit is limited by the trees, but the eastward panorama opens up from the brink of the crag itself and there is an aerial view of the Thirlmere dam. The reservoir is also seen end on to the south. The Benn and Castle Crag provide a close-up view of Raven Crag from the north.