Caw Fell is distant from any point of access by Lakeland standards, but can be climbed from Blengdale or Bowness Knott car-parks.

The surrounding valleys gradually diverge until at Caw Fell they are 6 miles (10 km) apart and other rivers spring up to drain the intervening country.

The unnamed col connecting Caw Fell to Haycock is flat topped and carries the Ennerdale Fence, in this section a substantial dry stone wall.

Running due north between this corrie and Silver Cove is the ridge of Iron Crag, making the whole summit area resemble an inverted 'T' in plan.

A narrow and steep sided col at 1,575 feet (480 m) provides Iron Crag with considerably more prominence than its parent, a small tarn lying on the northern slope.

The ridge now meets the headwaters of the River Calder and divides to embrace the valley, Crag Fell to the north and Lank Rigg to the south.

[2] The north eastern flanks are overlain by drift deposits with the plagioclase-phyric andesite lavas of the Birker Fell Formation beneath.