Great Carrs is one of a group of Wainwright's Southern Fells known as the Coniston Fells, located between Coniston Water and the Wrynose Pass. Because of its position at the north of this group, there are excellent views over the varied Lakeland fell ranges looking east to west from Great Carrs' northern panorama. A ridge linking Great Carrs with fellow Wainwright fell Swirl How was the site of a wartime air crash, with a memorial placed near the crash site commemorating the event in which a Canadian Air Force bomber was lost. Great Carrs was described by Wainwright as having an 'an eastern face with an unbroken tumble of crags into Greenburn', while the western slopes are much easier.
If taking a direct Great Carrs walk, the easiest route and the most popular is taken via Wet Side Edge from Little Langdale, or the Wrynose Pass, while it is often walked along the impressive ridge from Swirl How. Another favourite of Wainwright walkers is to walk Great Carrs alongside the other Coniston Fells, taking one of the routes favoured by Alfred Wainwright himself. These usually begin in Coniston village and take in Coniston Old Man, Brim Fell, Grey Friar, Great Carrs and Swirl How, with Wetherlam the final fell to completed from Wainwright maps by collectors of Lakeland peaks.
Further reading on Great Carrs walks and walks in the Coniston Fells and others in the area can be found in Book Four, The Southern Fells of Alfred Wainwright's Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells.
Plan and record your progress through the Wainwright Fells of the Lake District