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The broad plateau of Monadh Mòr with late snow along its rim, beyond a stony ridge in evening light.
The Cairngorms

Monadh Mor

A Munro of 1,113 metres, number 40 of the 282.

Photograph by Nick Bramhall (CC BY-SA 2.0)

On the hill todayI was up today
The hill

Monadh Mor stands in the Cairngorms above Glen Geusachan, on the boundary of Aberdeenshire and Highland.

Beinn Bhrotain is its close neighbour, about two and a half kilometres to the south-east, and Cairn Toul, Sgor an Lochain Uaine and The Devil's Point are all within four kilometres.

The glen's name means "glen of the little pine wood". Monadh, the national park authority's place-names leaflet explains, is the word for a mountain range, usually one with passes.

Corrour Bothy in the Lairig Ghru, which the Mountain Bothies Association calls one of the most famous of all bothies, is about four and a half kilometres away in a straight line.

Starts from
On this side, the car park the tourism bodies name is the Linn of Dee, six miles west of Braemar.
Stalking
Mountaineering Scotland counts the first three weeks of October the busiest of the stag season. Hind stalking currently runs from 21 October to 15 February.
Summit
Grid reference NN 938 942
Car park
The Linn of Dee, near Braemar, is one of the ways into the Lairig Ghru. When it and the Quoich car park are full, drivers are sent to an overflow car park just before the Linn of Dee, and when that fills too, asked to go elsewhere.
No telephone
The emergency telephone at Derry Lodge has been removed, Braemar Mountain Rescue Team says. Do not count on a phone signal in the glens.
Food
We know of no café or shop at the Linn of Dee or in the glens beyond it. The nearest places of ours to eat are in Braemar.
On the hill today
−1° to 2°Drizzle on the summit, 1,113 m. Feels like −6° in the wind.

North-west wind to 19 mph, gusting 34
Rain, about 5 mm
Light from 7.49am to 6.11pm, ten hours

Sat 17Cloudy−2° to 2° on top · 14 mph, gusts 29
Sun 18Clear−3° to 3° on top · 10 mph, gusts 17
Mon 19Drizzle−4° to 5° on top · 12 mph, gusts 22

A weather model's forecast for the height of the summit, not a report from the hill. Read the mountain forecast the evening before: Cairngorms National Park and Monadhliath forecast, Monadh Mor, North Grampian mountain forecast, South Grampian and Southeast Highlands mountain forecast, Southern Cairngorms avalanche forecast, Northern Cairngorms 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.

A band of cloud over the plateau of Monadh Mòr, a stony path in front.

Photographs by Nick Bramhall (CC BY-SA 2.0)

This can make for extreme winter temperatures, unpredictable weather, and terrain that is as dangerous as it is spectacular.The Cairngorms National Park Authority, of the Cairngorm plateau, naming no single hill
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 938 942
  • 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 Monadh Mor yet. If you were up, yours would be the first.

Tell the next person

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

Sign in to tell them
From the magazine
Read more elsewhere

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

Sleep and eat at its foot

Next along: Beinn Bhrotain, Sgor an Lochain Uaine, The Devil's Point, Cairn Toul. Checked on 10 October 2026. The facts on this page are Visit Cairngorms', Visit Aberdeenshire's, Mountaineering Scotland's, Braemar Mountain Rescue Team's, the Mountain Bothies Association's and the Cairngorms National Park Authority's; the forecasts are the Mountain Weather Information Service's, the Met Office's and the Scottish Avalanche Information Service'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.