Carn an Tuirc – Up the Allt a' Gharbh-choire

The walk

The usual way up Carn an Tuirc on its own starts from a free car park beside the A93, about 2 km north of the Glenshee ski centre. A path follows the north bank of the burn the guides call the Allt a' Gharbh-choire east into the hills, and a hill path climbs the west side of Carn an Tuirc through heather and stones to the summit. By our map it is about 6 km (3¾ miles) there and back, with about 520 metres of climb. Allow about 3 to 4 hours, more with stops, in poor weather or under snow. The summit is 1,019 metres up, and the walk starts about 520 metres up. No public body publishes a route, a distance or a time for it. The guides vary the last part: some keep round to the north side of the summit, where there is more grass, and this walk takes the path mapped up the west side. Cairn of Claise, about 2 km to the south-east, is the nearest Munro, and Tolmount and Tom Buidhe lie about 4 km to the east across the plateau. Many walkers join them in one long day from the same car park: this walk keeps to Carn an Tuirc.

The guides park in a rough car park on the east side of the A93, at grid reference NO 148 800, about 2 km north of the ski centre by our map. It is free, and one walker reckoned it holds about 20 cars if carefully parked. There are no toilets at it: the nearest are at the Glenshee ski centre, about 2 km south. The councils work snow gates on the A93 at the Spittal of Glenshee and at Braemar, and in winter snow may block the road over the pass, one guide warns.

Before you set off, check the mountain forecast, and under snow the avalanche forecast too. The Mountain Weather Information Service's Southeastern Highlands and Cairngorms forecasts both cover this ground. Carry a map and compass and know how to use them: the ski centre, which counts this hill among its Munros, asks walkers to have a backup means of navigation with them at all times. Invercauld Estate, which names the hill among its Munros, warns that some paths can be very rough. Plan ahead and take every precaution, the estate says, as the weather can change dramatically and quickly.

From the car park a short path leads east to the burn, where two bridges stand close together. Most guides cross the old arched stone bridge of the 18th-century military road over the Cairnwell Burn. By our map the path up the north bank starts from the footbridge a few steps to the north, just below where the Cairnwell Burn meets the Allt a' Gharbh-choire, and this walk crosses there.

The path runs east along the north bank of the Allt a' Gharbh-choire, through heather and wet ground. For about the first kilometre it can be very boggy, and walkers have worn several lines round the worst of it: one walker advises keeping to the higher ones. One guide passed a waterfall on the burn early on. By our map the path crosses a small stream at a ford about 660 metres out, and passes the ruins of old shielings, one guide notes.

About 1.2 km out, a tributary comes down from the north-east to join the burn. Cross it at the ford. After rain it may need a detour upstream, one guide warns, and another says the burn can be testing to cross in spate. If it is running high, turn back.

Just past the ford, about 575 metres up by our map, the hill path leaves the burn and climbs east-north-east up the open hillside. It is faint and grassy in places, and it steepens as it climbs, crossing a small stream. By our map it turns east about 2 km out, about 700 metres up, and climbs on steeply up the west side of the hill.

From about 800 metres up the path climbs through scree and stones, faint and hard to follow in places. Near the top the grass gives way to boulder fields, and several paths pick their way through them. Go steadily: the guides call the rocks tough going, and they can turn an ankle. One guide keeps round to the north side, where there is more grass, before picking a way south up the stony ground.

The path reaches the summit, 1,019 metres, at a cairn on a wide, flat, stony top. A round stone shelter stands a few metres west of it. The ground nearby is slightly higher than the cairn, one guide noticed. Cairn of Claise rises about 2 km to the south-east across the plateau.

The top is a broad, featureless plateau, with paths in all directions through the stones. In mist walkers can leave the summit the wrong way, and careful navigation is needed, the guides warn, particularly in winter. One walker found the paths less clear on the ground than on other hills, and needed course corrections. Before you leave the top, take a bearing for the way down: by our map the path leaves the summit heading north-west, then turns west. If the cloud comes down, the wind rises or anyone is tiring, turn back by the way you came.

Under snow Carn an Tuirc is a winter mountain on a high, exposed plateau. In winter it is serious terrain, one guide says, where crampons and an ice axe are likely to be needed, with the skill to use them. The Scottish Avalanche Information Service names the Cairnwell and Glas Maol ranges in its Southern Cairngorms area. Read that forecast before you go.

The Heading for the Scottish Hills tables name Invercauld's Glenshee and Glencallater ground for the ridge from Creag Leacach to Cairn of Claise, Carn an Tuirc among it. Stalking runs there from mid-September to 20 October, with no stalking on Sundays. Follow the estate's signs, as Invercauld asks.

The way down is the way you came. Leave the summit on the path heading north-west, then west, through the stones, and follow it down the west side of the hill to the burn. Cross the tributary again at the ford, and follow the path west along the north bank of the burn to the footbridge and the car park. In an emergency call 999 or 112 and ask for Police and Mountain Rescue, Mountaineering Scotland says. Give a six-figure grid reference and a named feature if you can. To be able to text 999 where a call will not connect, register first by texting the word register to 999.