Hidden Scotland
Sign in
Stob Poite Coire Àrdair, its broad craggy flank in soft light with mist drifting across the glen to the left.
Loch Laggan and Creag Meagaidh

Stob Poite Coire Ardair

A Munro of 1,053 metres, number 78 of the 282.

Photograph by Nick Bramhall (CC BY-SA 2.0)

On the hill todayI was up today
The hill

Stob Poite Coire Ardair is a Munro of the Creag Meagaidh massif, north-west of Loch Laggan.

Creag Meagaidh itself is under two kilometres away to the south-west, and Carn Liath is to the east.

The massif is part of Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve, which NatureScot owns and manages.

Coire Ardair is the heart of this country. The Scottish Avalanche Information Service calls the cliffs and summits around it popular, and they are the ground it visits most in its Creag Meagaidh area.

Starts from
The nature reserve's car park at Aberarder, on the A86: the same start as Creag Meagaidh and Carn Liath. Take the way up from a route description and the map.
The ground
Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve, looked after by NatureScot.
Under snow
The hill stands in the core of the Creag Meagaidh avalanche area, among the cliffs and summits around Coire Ardair and the Munros north-west of Loch Laggan. On 4 January 2026 the forecaster there warned of a developing cornice problem at Creag Meagaidh and poor visibility above 600 metres. Forecasts begin again on 17 December 2026, and no forecast does not mean no risk under snow.
Summit
Grid reference NN 428 888.
Car park
The nature reserve's car park at Aberarder, on the A86. Wild Lochaber gives the start as grid reference NN 483 873.
Toilets and food
Wild Lochaber lists a toilet at the information point in Aberarder farmhouse. There is no café, shop or fuel that we know of at the foot of the hill.
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 Poite Coire Ardair, North Grampian mountain forecast, Creag Meagaidh avalanche forecast, The Creag Meagaidh forecasters' blog.

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.

Photographs by Nick Bramhall (CC BY-SA 2.0) and Neillwphoto (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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 428 888
  • 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 Stob Poite Coire Ardair 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: Creag Meagaidh, Carn Liath, Beinn a' Chaorainn, Beinn Teallach. Checked on 10 October 2026. The snow facts and the avalanche forecast are the Scottish Avalanche Information Service's, the start's grid reference and the toilet are Wild Lochaber's, and the weather forecasts are 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.