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Buachaille Etive Mor's cone across the moor, with the A82 and a bridged river running towards it under cloud.
Glen Coe and Glen Etive

Buachaille Etive Mor - Stob Dearg

A Munro of 1,021 metres, number 109 of the 282.

On the hill todayI was up today
The hill

Stob Dearg is the higher of the two Munros on Buachaille Etive Mor, the mountain at the eastern end of Glencoe.

The other, Stob na Broige, is about three and a half kilometres to the south-west, and Buachaille Etive Beag stands about three kilometres to the west.

In our magazine, Gordon Buchanan gives the name as the "Great Herdsman of Etive", a mountain that has long stood sentry over the glen.

At its foot stands Lagangarbh, a mountaineers' hut owned by the National Trust for Scotland and something of a pilgrimage site for climbers.

The start
Walkers and climbers park beside the A82 at Altnafeadh, close to Lagangarbh. Read the route up before you go.
The ground
Mountaineering Scotland names the Black Corries Estate and the National Trust for Scotland as the landowners at Altnafeadh.
Under snow
In February 2014 two slides crossed the main path up and down. The avalanche service's lesson: plan the way down as carefully as the way up, because after a climb the guard may be lowered.
Summit
Grid reference NN 222 542
Parking
Beside the A82 at Altnafeadh. Mountaineering Scotland calls it inadequate and increasingly dangerous. The landowners, Transport Scotland, Highland Council and the rescue team first met as a working group about it in November 2025.
Lagangarbh
The hut at the foot of the hill is for members of Mountaineering Scotland and its affiliates, booked ahead. It is not a public shelter, and there is no camping and no fires near it.
On the hill today

A weather model's forecast for the height of the summit, not a report from the hill. Read the mountain forecast the evening before: West Highlands forecast, Stob Dearg, Glencoe avalanche forecast.

October2026

MTWTFSS

Going another day?

Choose the day you mean to climb.Near or far: the light you will have, and what the summit is likely to be doing.

Photograph by Gordon Buchanan, via Google

As many members will be aware, the parking available adjacent to the A82 at Altnafeadh, close to Lagangarbh is inadequate and increasingly dangerous.Mountaineering Scotland, in November 2025
Before you go

Carry

  • A paper map and a compass, and the skill to use them
  • Waterproofs, warm layers, hat and gloves
  • Food and drink
  • A head torch, a whistle and a first aid kit
  • A survival bag
  • Boots with a good grip

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.

If something goes wrong

  • Dial 999, ask for the police, then mountain rescue
  • Give a six-figure grid reference: the summit is NN 222 542
  • Say how many are hurt, how many are with you, and your number
  • Register to text 999 before the day: text the word register to 999

The summit is optional. Turning back is the right decision whenever the cloud, the wind or the light say so.

How to call for help in the hills · Safety and skills for the hills · ThinkWINTER

From our readers

Nobody has written from Buachaille Etive Mor - Stob Dearg yet. If you were up, yours would be the first.

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Were you up? Three words is enough.A free account, a word for the weather and a line if you like.

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From the magazine
Read more elsewhere

For the route itself, take the map and read these.

Sleep and eat at its foot

Next along: Buachaille Etive Beag - Stob Coire Raineach, Buachaille Etive Mor - Stob na Broige, Creise, Buachaille Etive Beag - Stob Dubh. Checked on 9 October 2026. The facts and forecasts on this page are Mountaineering Scotland's, the Scottish Avalanche Information Service's, the Mountain Weather Information Service's and the Met Office's. Height and position from The Database of British and Irish Hills, v18.3, adapted, CC BY 4.0. This page is not a route description and does not replace a map.