Wainwright accorded Castle Crag the status of a separate fell because it "is so magnificently independent, so ruggedly individual, so aggressively unashamed of its lack of inches, that less than justice would be done by relegating it to a paragraph in the High Spy chapter.

The rough spur of Low Scawdel at 1,709 feet (521 m) runs out due east from the summit, breaking steeply over Goat Crag and then falling to Broadslack Gill.

The wooded height of Castle Crag rises between Broadslack Gill and the Derwent, the two streams meeting to the north beneath the outlying knoll of Low Hows.

Southwards Great Gable and the Scafells ring the head of the Derwent catchment, while near at hand – enhanced by the steepness of the slope – is a view of the woods and crags of mid Borrowdale.

[1] The Allerdale Ramble long distance walking route runs along the valley of Broadslack Gill, whilst the Cumbria Way crosses the eastern slopes of Castle Crag.