Hidden Scotland
Sign in

A guide to
the Munros.

It’s 20:04 in Scotland.

The Munros.

There are 282 mountains in Scotland over 3,000 feet, and each of them is a Munro. They run from Ben Lomond, within sight of Glasgow, to Ben Hope in the far north, and out to Skye and Mull.

The name is Sir Hugh Munro’s, who listed them in 1891 and never finished climbing them himself. People have been working through his list ever since.

Find your Munros.

Answer four quick questions to find the Munros that suit you.

The Munros, by area.

And Corrour and Loch Treig, Ben Cruachan, Loch Laggan and Creag Meagaidh, Glenshee, Lochnagar and Glen Clova, Blair Atholl and Glen Tilt, Glen Shiel and Kintail, Glen Affric and Strathfarrar, Knoydart and Loch Quoich, Torridon, The Fannichs and Strathcarron.

By the kind of day.

The scrambles

The scrambles.

Hands on rock somewhere on the way, and a head for it.

Remote and wild

Remote and wild.

A bothy, a bike, or a very long day.

By train

By train.

A station at the foot, and no car to go back for.

The four-thousanders

The four-thousanders.

The ones over four thousand feet.

On the islands

On the islands.

The ones you take a boat or a bridge to.

In winter

In winter.

The ones that stay a walk under snow, and the ones that do not.

Before you go.

The day before

The day before.

Read the mountain forecast for this hill's area. Tell someone where you are going and when you will be back. Look for stalking and access notices for the ground you will cross.

Carry

Carry.

A paper map of the hill and a compass, and know how to use them. A phone is a second system, not the first: batteries fail and so does signal. Waterproofs, warm layers, hat and gloves, food and drink, a head torch, a whistle, a first aid kit, a survival bag and boots with a good grip.

Turn back

Turn back.

The summit is optional. If the cloud comes down, the wind rises, the light is going or someone in the party is struggling, going down is the right decision.

In winter.

Under snow and ice this is a different day, with short light and the risk of avalanche. It needs an ice axe, crampons, winter boots and the skill to use them.

Deer stalking.

Stalking can take place on any hill, mostly on weekdays, with the stag season at its busiest in early autumn and hinds stalked through the winter. Check before you go, follow any signs, and be ready to change your way.

Ticks and midges.

Ticks live in grass and bracken from spring to autumn. Check your skin and clothes afterwards and take any tick off promptly. In summer carry midge repellent or a head net.

Read more: How to call for help in the hills (Scottish Mountain Rescue)  ·  Safety and skills for the hills (Mountaineering Scotland)  ·  What to carry (Mountaineering Scotland)  ·  ThinkWINTER (Mountaineering Scotland and Scottish Mountain Rescue)  ·  Deer stalking and hill access (Mountaineering Scotland)  ·  Tick bites (NHS inform)

If something goes wrong.

Call.

Dial 999 or 112, ask for the police, then ask for mountain rescue.

Tell them.

Where you are, as a six-figure grid reference or a named feature. How many are hurt and how. How many are in the party and what you are carrying. Your mobile number and the others' numbers.

With weak signal.

A text to 999 may get through where a call will not, but only from a phone registered beforehand: text the word register to 999 before the day and follow the reply.

Your position.

The free OS Locate app shows a grid reference from the phone's own GPS, with no mobile signal needed.

Written up in fullThe CairngormsBraeriachCrianlarich and TyndrumBen MoreCrianlarich and TyndrumStob BinneinGlen Coe and Glen EtiveBidean nam BianDrumochter and Loch ErichtBen AlderBen Lawers and Glen LyonSchiehallionBridge of OrchyBeinn DorainUllapool, Ben Wyvis and the far northBen Wyvis - Glas Leathad MorCrianlarich and TyndrumBen OssGlen Coe and Glen EtiveBuachaille Etive Mor - Stob DeargLoch Lomond and the Arrochar AlpsBeinn ImeLoch Earn and StrathearnBen VorlichBen Nevis, the Mamores and the Grey CorriesAn GearanachLoch Lomond and the Arrochar AlpsBen Lomond

Munros with everything to know.

Each with what to know before going, where to check the conditions and where to read more.

See every Munro
1,012 metresLoch Lomond and the Arrochar Alps

Beinn Ime.

Beinn Ìme is the highest of the Arrochar Alps, the hills west of Loch Lomond, inside the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.

Read about Beinn Ime
1,165 metresCrianlarich and Tyndrum

Stob Binnein.

Stob Binnein stands beside Ben More near Crianlarich, in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. The two are usually walked together.

Read about Stob Binnein
From the magazineThe printed copy of Issue 01Issue 01Autumn / Winter 2020

Shieldaig, on Loch Shieldaig in Wester Ross, was founded in 1800 partly to train seafarers the Royal Navy could call on during the Napoleonic Wars.

The Admiralty offered generous grants for building boats and houses, so that families would settle there and take up fishing for a living, and the village helped to create a register of trained seafarers for the navy. Today its whitewashed cottages fringe the edge of the loch, with the mountains Liathach, Maol Chean-dearg and Beinn Alligin rising behind. Out in the loch sits a 13-hectare island thick with Caledonian pines, a sharp contrast to the bare slopes all around. The best view of the village is from the Applecross peninsula, about a mile to the south, where some of the finest sunsets imaginable can be savoured.

See Shieldaig · Wester Ross
1,030 metresCrianlarich and Tyndrum

Ben Oss.

Ben Oss stands right beside Ben Lui in the hills south of Tyndrum, in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. The two stand together at the head of Glen Fyne, which carries on as the long sea loch, Loch Fyne.

Read about Ben Oss
1,174 metresCrianlarich and Tyndrum

Ben More.

Ben More rises from the A85 near Crianlarich. More means big in Gaelic, the park authority says, and this is not Ben More on Mull or Ben More Assynt.

Read about Ben More
From the magazineThe printed copy of Issue 02Issue 02Spring / Summer 2021

Kilchurn Castle, on Loch Awe in Argyll, has been a romantic ruin since lightning struck it in the 1760s, and it became a muse for the painter J M W Turner and the poet William Wordsworth.

Colin Campbell, the first Lord of Glenorchy, built it in the 1450s on the northern shore of the loch, in the shadow of Ben Cruachan, to show the rising power of Clan Campbell. It seems placed for the greatest possible effect, and in a way it was. Today it ranks with Edinburgh Castle and Eilean Donan among the most photographed castles in Scotland. From every angle it seems to take on a wholly new shape, so it is well worth walking right round it.

See Kilchurn Castle · Argyll and Bute
929 metresSkye and Mull

Blabheinn.

Blabheinn, also written Blà Bheinn or Blaven, stands above Loch Slapin in the south of Skye, apart from the main Black Cuillin ridge. The John Muir Trust, which looks after it, calls it one of the most recognisable of the ridge's outliers. The nearest other Munro, Sgurr nan Gillean, is almost seven kilometres away to the north-west.

Read about Blabheinn
966 metresFisherfield and Dundonnell

A' Mhaighdean.

A' Mhaighdean stands deep in the Fisherfield and Letterewe forests of Wester Ross, in the country Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team knows as the Great Wilderness and counts among the most remote in the UK.

Read about A' Mhaighdean
From the magazine

Queen Victoria spent a week at Inverlochy Castle, near Fort William, sketching and painting, and wrote in her diaries, 'I never saw a lovelier or more romantic spot'.

The castle stands in the foothills of Ben Nevis, and today it is one of Scotland's most scenic luxury retreats, so you can follow in the queen's footsteps and stay the night. There are 17 bedrooms and suites, each decorated in its own style, and every one of them has views over the estate's grounds and its private loch. It is one of a growing number of Scottish castles that have lowered their drawbridges to overnight guests, giving visitors the chance to stay in settings once kept for nobles and the wealthy.

Read the full story in Issue 5
1,046 metresUllapool, Ben Wyvis and the far north

Ben Wyvis - Glas Leathad Mor.

Ben Wyvis, Bheinn Uais, stands on its own to the north of Inverness: a high whaleback ridge whose summit, Glas Leathad Mòr, is 1,046 metres.

Read about Ben Wyvis - Glas Leathad Mor
968 metresGlen Coe and Glen Etive

Aonach Eagach - Sgorr nam Fiannaidh.

Sgorr nam Fiannaidh is the higher of the two Munros on the Aonach Eagach, the ridge along the north side of Glen Coe. Its partner on the ridge, Meall Dearg, stands about two kilometres to the east, and Bidean nam Bian faces it from across the glen, about four kilometres to the south.

Read about Aonach Eagach - Sgorr nam Fiannaidh