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A walk up Mount Keen from Glen Tanar
A walk · Aboyne

Mount Keen – Scotland's Most Easterly Munro

About 18.2 miles on foot.

Braeloine car parkStartMount Keen, 939 mThe top

Mount Keen is Scotland's most easterly Munro, a rounded summit at the head of Glen Tanar on an old drove road over the Mounth that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert crossed in 1861.

From Glen Tanar it's a long day: miles of track up the glen through old pines and onto open moor, then a steep, stony pull to the top. It's for fit, experienced hill walkers with a good forecast and the whole day to spare.

Time
A full day of eight hours or more: about 29 km there and back from Braeloine to the top, 939 m, Scotland's most easterly Munro. A long day, a mountain.
The path
A long track up the glen through pinewood and onto open moor, then a steep, stony path to the summit.
Where to start
The Braeloine car park by the Bridge of Tanar and the Glen Tanar Visitor Centre, at the end of the single-track glen road from Bridge o' Ess on the B976; there's a charge. The glen road is not for motorhomes or caravans.
When to go
From March to October, on a day with a good mountain forecast, starting early: by 9am from April to September, and at first light in March and October. From November to February there isn't the daylight, and snow makes it a winter mountain.
Dogs
On a lead: capercaillie and other birds nest on the ground in spring and summer, and the stags rut in October.
Children
A long mountain day for experienced adults; not for children.
Toilets
At the Glen Tanar Visitor Centre at the start, shut on Tuesdays; none on the hill.
Before you set out
Suitable clothing and equipment, an up-to-date mountain forecast, and a map and compass for the top in cloud. Glen Tanar stalks deer, the stags at their peak in October: ring the ranger on 013398 86072 before an October day.

The walk

The walk starts at the Glen Tanar Visitor Centre car park at Braeloine, by the Bridge of Tanar, at the end of the single-track glen road from Bridge o' Ess on the B976. There's a charge to park, and the visitor centre's toilets open every day except Tuesday. Mount Keen, 939 metres, stands at the southern tip of the glen on the estate's boundary. From Braeloine it's a long way in: about 29 km there and back, most of it a track up the glen through the old pines and out onto open moor, then a steep, stony climb to the rounded top.

The path over the summit is part of an old drove road across the Mounth to Glen Esk, and from the top the view takes in Deeside and the Angus glens. Allow a full day of eight hours or more. This is a mountain: the Glen Tanar Charitable Trust asks walkers to take suitable clothing and equipment and check an up-to-date forecast, and in cloud the top needs a map and compass. Glen Tanar stalks deer, with the stags at their peak in October: ring the ranger on 013398 86072 before an October day.

From November to February there isn't the daylight for it, and snow makes it a winter mountain. Keep dogs on a lead, as capercaillie and other birds nest on the ground in spring and summer.

If it rains

Not a day for rain or low cloud: the top is open moor with nothing to steer by in mist. In poor weather walk the Old Pines Path from the same car park instead, two hours under the trees.

Before you go

  1. Book accommodation nearby

    If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.

    Rowan CottageClose byRowan CottageSleeps 2Butler's LodgeClose byButler's LodgeSleeps 6Garden CottageClose byGarden CottageSleeps 4Joiners CottageClose byJoiners CottageSleeps 4
Find out more

For further reading, before you go.