Skyrim:Dragon Lairs

This page lists all the dragon lairs in Skyrim. All of the dragon lairs also contain word walls. Stationary dragons can commonly be found at dragon lairs making them a good place to go when looking for dragon souls, words for shouts, bones, and scales.

 Ancient's Ascent — A dragon lair located in the mountains southwest of Helgen. (map)

 Autumnwatch Tower — A pair of abandoned towers located south of Ivarstead. (map)

 Bonestrewn Crest — A mountaintop dragon lair located south of Windhelm. (map)

 Dragontooth Crater — A dragon lair located due north of Karthwasten. (map)

 Eldersblood Peak — A dragon lair located in the mountains south of Morthal. (map)

 Lost Tongue Overlook — A dragon lair on the Jerall Mountains south of Riften. (map)

 Mount Anthor — A mountain southwest of Winterhold and west of the Shrine of Azura. (map)

 Northwind Summit — A mountaintop dragon lair on the border between Eastmarch and the Rift. (map)

 Saering's Watch^DB — A dragon lair located north of Hrothmund's Barrow in the shadow of Frykte Peak, inhabited by leveled draugr as well as a dragon post-Dragon Rising. (map)

 Shearpoint — A dragon lair located on a small peak to the north of the Throat of the World, between Fellglow Keep and Irkngthand. (map)

 Skyborn Altar — A mountaintop dragon lair located in the mountains east-southeast of Morthal. (map)

Notes

• If you visit a dragon lair prior to Dragon Rising, it will only be inhabited by generic enemies, often enabling you to learn its word with minimal effort. More details can be found on the individual pages.
• The dragons found at dragon lairs will always respawn, no matter how many times they are killed. This is an excellent way for any player with the skill to kill them to earn valuable experience and items and to test their combat prowess. It is especially helpful for lower to intermediate level players.
• An easy way to have some dragon lairs marked on your map is by talking to guards. They will occasionally point one out. An example is Shearpoint.

Bugs

• Respawned dragons found in previously cleared lairs will not always give dragon souls.
  • PC Only This bug is fixed by version 1.0 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.
• The miscellaneous objective "Return to Esbern" may initiate in your quest log upon killing a dragon at any dragon lair. This is related to the bugged quest Dragon Research; it does not update after speaking to Esbern, and cannot be completed, unless you clear all dragon lairs before High Hrothgar. Then the quest will not initiate and they can all be cleared (could even be just before A Cornered Rat).
  • PC Only This bug is fixed by version 1.2.5 of the Unofficial Skyrim Patch.