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The smooth white dome of Tom Buidhe across a snow-covered plateau under a blue sky.
Glenshee, Lochnagar and Glen Clova

Tom Buidhe

A Munro of 958 metres, number 203 of the 282.

Photograph by Nick Bramhall (CC BY-SA 2.0)

On the hill todayI was up today
The hill

Tom Buidhe stands in Angus, on the high plateau east of the A93 at Glenshee.

Tolmount is its close neighbour, just over a kilometre to the north, and the hills database gives the two exactly the same height: 957.8 metres.

Jock's Road crosses the same plateau, which ScotWays calls high, exposed and featureless. It is an old drove road, once used to move livestock from Braemar over the Tolmount to the market near the foot of Glen Clova.

The national park's place-name guide gives tom as the word for a small hillock, and the Glenshee ski centre counts Tom Buidhe among its East Glenshee six.

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 Tom Buidhe in its "East Glenshee 6".
The plateau
ScotWays counts the old road across the plateau among the most serious walks it describes, and says that in winter the path 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 213 787
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 16 mph, gusting 34
Rain, about 1 mm
Light from 7.47am to 6.09pm, ten hours

Sat 17Drizzle−1° to 4° on top · 14 mph, gusts 31
Sun 18Clear−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, Tom Buidhe, 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.

Tom Buidhe in summer, a rounded green hill seen from Tolmount.

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 Jock's Road, the old road across the plateau
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 213 787
  • 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 Tom Buidhe 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: Tolmount, Cairn of Claise, Broad Cairn, Cairn Bannoch. 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.