A guide to
Scotland’s mountains.
Where in Scotland?
Choose a part of Scotland for its mountains.
Ben Nevis, Glen Coe and the Aonach Eagach, with Fort William at the foot.
The high plateau, with five of the six highest mountains in Britain.
The Black Cuillin, the most serious ridge in Britain.
Torridon’s giants, Liathach and Beinn Eighe, and Slioch above Loch Maree.
Suilven, Quinag and Canisp, each standing alone out of Assynt.
Ben Lomond, the Cobbler and Ben Ledi, within an hour or so of Glasgow.
Goatfell and the granite ridges of the north of the island.
The mountains, in two minutes.
Scotland’s mountains are not high by the world’s measure, but they start near sea level, the weather comes in fast, and most have no path to the top. The 282 over 3,000 feet are the Munros, and climbing them all is a lifetime’s hobby.
There is no need to climb one to enjoy them. Glen Coe, Torridon and Assynt are seen as well from the road, and a smaller hill such as Stac Pollaidh or Ben A’an gives the view for half the effort.
Where to start.
The mountains everyone asks about, each with what to know before going.
Buachaille Etive Mòr.
The rock pyramid at the head of Glen Coe, where it meets Glen Etive, and one of the best known and best loved of all the Munros.
Glencoe
Cuillin Mountains.
Skye's serious mountains: the eroded heart of a volcano some 60 million years old, with Sgùrr Alasdair at 992 metres.
Isle of Skye
Stac Pollaidh.
A spiky little mountain above the road to Achiltibuie, only 612 metres high, whose rocky ridge looks out over lochans to Suilven and the peaks of Assynt.
Sutherland
An Teallach.
The Forge, a jagged mountain of red sandstone above Little Loch Broom, whose ridge of pinnacles is one of the great scrambles in Britain.
Wester Ross
Ben Lomond.
The southernmost Munro, above Loch Lomond on the Highland line, with a well-made path from Rowardennan and views the length of the loch.
Argyll and Bute
Glencoe.
A deep Highland glen walled in by the Three Sisters and the Aonach Eagach, cared for by the National Trust for Scotland, with a visitor centre off the A82.
Glencoe
Three things to know.
Read the mountain forecast.
The Mountain Weather Information Service gives a forecast for the tops, which can be winter when the glen is summer.
Carry a map.
Phone signal goes and batteries die in the cold. A paper map and a compass, and knowing how to use them, are the kit that matters.
Mind the season.
Stalking runs from August to October on many estates, and midges are worst from June to August. Early summer and autumn are the sweet spots.
The Munros.
A Munro is a Scottish mountain over 3,000 feet, which is 914.4 metres. There are 282 of them. Sir Hugh Munro published the first list in 1891, and climbing them all has been a pursuit ever since: finishing is called compleating, spelled that way since his day.
For each there is where it is, how high it is, what its name means and where to look before going. They are gathered by area, so a trip can take in the hills round one glen, and by the kind of day they make.
The weather on top can be nothing like the weather at the car, so read the mountain forecast for the hills you mean to climb.
The Munros, by area.
Each area is the hills round one base, with a map of them.
The Munros, by kind of day.
The scrambles
Hands on rock somewhere on the way, and a head for it.
Remote and wild
A bothy, a bike, or a very long day.
By train
A station at the foot, and no car to go back for.
The four-thousanders
The ones over four thousand feet.
On the islands
The ones you take a boat or a bridge to.
In winter
The ones that stay a walk under snow, and the ones that do not.
Loch LomondBen Challum
Loch LomondBen More, Crianlarich
Loch LomondBen Venue
SutherlandCocoa Mountain Balnakeil
CairngormsCairngorm Mountain
Loch LomondBen A'an
Loch LomondBen Ledi
Isle of SkyeCuillin MountainsWhere to go.
Places of ours, each with what to know before you go.
See more on ExploreGlen Coe and Glen EtiveBidean nam Bian
Ben Lawers and Glen LyonSchiehallion
Glen Coe and Glen EtiveBuachaille Etive Mor - Stob Dearg
Ben Nevis, the Mamores and the Grey CorriesAn Gearanach
Glen Coe and Glen EtiveAonach Eagach - Sgorr nam Fiannaidh
Skye and MullBlabheinnMunros written up in full.
Each with what to know before going, where to check the conditions and where to read more.
See every Munro
Ben Nevis by the Mountain Track from Glen Nevis
The Three Sisters of Glencoe and lunch at the Clachaig Inn
Strathy Bay and lunch at the Store in Bettyhill
A walk to the Fairy Pools in Glen Brittle
Glenashdale Falls and the Giants' Graves walk
A walk on the Old Logging Way from Rothiemurchus to Glenmore
A walk up Benarty Hill from RSPB Loch Leven
Flotterstone, Glencorse Reservoir and Castlelaw walkDays worked out.
Each with its stops in order, the drive between and somewhere to eat.
See every day out
To readKilmartin Glen
To readA House on a Hill, meet Cara of Whitehill Farmhouse
To readA Stay at Glenhurich Lodge, a Secluded Home on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula
To readSchiehallion - The Fairy Hill of the Caledonians
To readRemembering the Battle of Halidon Hill
To readEscape to Glen Dye: A Woodland Retreat with Hot Tubs and Wood-Fired Saunas
To readGhosts of the Mountains
To readThe Growing Community of GlenelgFrom the magazine and the Journal.
The people and the stories.
The Library
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