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Tolmount, a green hill with a craggy face, under a bright sky with white cloud.
Glenshee, Lochnagar and Glen Clova

Tolmount

A Munro of 958 metres, number 202 of the 282.

Photograph by Nick Bramhall (CC BY-SA 2.0)

On the hill todayI was up today
The hill

Tolmount stands on the border of Aberdeenshire and Angus, on the high plateau between Glen Callater and Glen Doll.

Tom Buidhe, just over a kilometre to the south, is exactly the same height.

The hill shares its name with the Tolmounth, the old road also known as Jock's Road, which crosses a col beside it. It was a drove road, used to move livestock from Braemar to the market near the foot of Glen Clova.

In Glen Doll the road passes Davy's Bourach, a landmark built by Davie Glen in 1966 in memory of five hillwalkers who died in a storm on the old route on New Year's Day 1959.

Starts from
Car parks stand on three sides: Glen Doll, Auchallater for Glen Callater, and the Glenshee ski centre on the A93, whose operator lists Tolmount in its "East Glenshee 6".
The old road
ScotWays gives the Tolmounth, the old road from Auchallater to Glen Doll, as 20 km: the length of the road, not of a day on this hill. It counts it among the most serious walks it describes, and says that in winter the path over the plateau is likely to lie under snow, completely invisible for several months.
The ground
Invercauld Estate, which owns the bothy in Glen Callater, stalks red stags. Check before you go and follow any signs.
Summit
Grid reference NO 210 800
Glen Doll
Forestry and Land Scotland's car park, on the minor road from the head of Glen Clova, nearest postcode DD8 4RD. In 2026 it charged £3 for the day by coins, card or RingGo. You may leave a car overnight for the hills, paid for each day, but not camp or sleep in it. Angus Council keeps the toilets. Part of the car park is closed from 24 August 2026 for up to three months, for work to shore up the riverbank and essential repairs.
Auchallater and the A93
In 2026 Invercauld Estate's pay-and-display car park at Auchallater, for Glen Callater, charged £3.50 a vehicle for up to a full day, with coins only at the machines. Glenshee Snowsports Centre's car park is on the A93 at AB35 5XU: free for the first 50 minutes (the first hour, by its summer page) or with a chairlift ticket or pass, then £4 for the day.
Two notices
In October 2026 two bodies gave Glen Doll differently. Forestry and Land Scotland had the Dounalt road closed for six months for forestry work, with a diversion for Jock's Road that includes a steep crossfall on a narrow, uneven surface. The Cairngorms National Park Authority, in an undated alert, had the car park open, and the Dounalt road, on the south side of the upper White Water, open as the alternative to Jock's Road, which it said remained closed. Read both before you go: each is linked below.
On the hill today
0° to 4°Drizzle on the summit, 958 m. Feels like −4° in the wind.

North-west wind to 15 mph, gusting 33
Rain, about 2 mm
Light from 7.47am to 6.09pm, ten hours

Sat 17Drizzle−1° to 4° on top · 13 mph, gusts 30
Sun 18Some cloud−2° to 4° on top · 11 mph, gusts 20
Mon 19Drizzle−3° to 6° on top · 9 mph, gusts 18

A weather model's forecast for the height of the summit, not a report from the hill. Read the mountain forecast the evening before: Southeastern Highlands forecast, Cairngorms National Park and Monadhliath forecast, Tolmount, Southern 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.

The rounded top of Tolmount on the skyline under heavy cloud, in a wide view across the plateau.

Photographs by Nick Bramhall (CC BY-SA 2.0)

It crosses a high, exposed and featureless plateau which in winter is frequently swept by storms.ScotWays, of the Tolmounth, the old road beside the 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 NO 210 800
  • 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 Tolmount yet. If you were up, yours would be the first.

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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: Tom Buidhe, Cairn of Claise, Cairn Bannoch, Broad Cairn. Checked on 10 October 2026. The facts on this page are Forestry and Land Scotland's, Invercauld Estate's, Glenshee Snowsports Centre's, ScotWays' 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.