Meall nan Tarmachan – Over the South Top to the Summit

The walk

The usual way up Meall nan Tarmachan starts on the hill road between Loch Tay and Glen Lyon, below the dam at the south end of Lochan na Lairige. An estate track and then a built hill path climb west across the hillside and north up a broad ridge over the hill's South Top. A steep, stepped climb under crags leads on to the summit. By our map it is about 7.3 km (4½ miles) there and back, with about 640 metres of climb. Allow about 3 to 4 hours, more with stops, in poor weather or under snow. The summit is 1,044 metres up, and the walk starts about 460 metres up. The path is clear most of the way, but the last climb is steep, with crags close beside it and a little rough, rocky ground. No public body publishes this way up, a distance or a time for it. Others start from the National Trust for Scotland's car park about 500 metres back down the road, by a path that joins this one at a burn. Many walkers go on from the summit along the Tarmachan Ridge, over Meall Garbh and Beinn nan Eachan to Creag na Caillich. That is a longer and harder day, with a short, steep, hands-on descent, and this walk does not take it.

The start is a rough parking area at the side of the hill road, where an estate track leaves it beside a bridge. By our map it is at grid reference NN 604 383. Steven Fallon puts it about 500 metres beyond the National Trust for Scotland's car park and says there is no charge to park. It is small and its spaces can go quickly, Stunning Outdoors found. If it is full, go back down the road to the Trust's car park, which charges for parking: £4 in 2026, Steven Fallon says. Never park in a passing place. The road is one lane wide, and Steven Fallon calls it unsuitable for caravans and other large vehicles and says it is not gritted in winter. In winter the road is kept clear only as far as the Trust's car park, Stunning Outdoors says, so the last stretch to this start can be impassable. Then park at the Trust's car park and walk up the road. Undiscovered Scotland says the road over to Glen Lyon is not kept open in winter conditions. Our map shows no toilets at the start.

Before you set off, check the mountain forecast: the Mountain Weather Information Service's Southeastern Highlands and West Highlands forecasts both reach this far. Conditions on the hills are often much colder and windier than down by the loch, Forestry and Land Scotland warns. Wear good walking boots and carry warm, waterproof clothing, plenty of food and drink, and a torch. Carry a map and compass and know how to use them, and do not rely only on a phone or GPS. If you have not been trained to use them in poor visibility, plan to turn back early by a safe route, Killin Mountain Rescue Team advises. Leave word with someone of where you are going and when you will be back. Deer stalking can take place at any time of year, Mountaineering Scotland says, busiest in the first three weeks of October, with hinds from 21 October to 15 February. Find out before you go.

From the parking area follow the estate track south-west, over its little bridge and through a gate. About 500 metres out, Steven Fallon says, a small cairn beside a burn marks where the hill path leaves the track on the right. The path from the Trust's car park joins here. The path crosses the burn at a ford, with no bridge. It is a small burn, but streams here can rise sharply in a day of rain, Munro Magic warns.

The path climbs steadily west across the hillside, through heather at first and then over mainly grass, with Loch Tay opening out behind. Most of the way lies in the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve, which the National Trust for Scotland owns, and the Trust is restoring the habitat on these slopes. The plants are easily damaged underfoot, so the Trust asks walkers to keep to the path as far as possible and to keep dogs under control.

About 1.9 km out, about 730 metres up by our map, the path turns north and climbs a broad ridge to the hill's South Top, 923 metres up and about 2.8 km out. Beyond it the path drops a little, crosses a fence by a ladder stile and crosses a boggy dip on stepping stones. Then comes the hardest part of the way up: a steep section with built stone steps, about 50 metres of climb, Steven Fallon says, up through the crags of Cam Chreag. Munro Magic says the path through these crags needs a minor scramble, with good holds for hands and feet. Another guide speaks of some very minor scrambles on the way to the summit. No source grades the scrambling, so treat it as hands-on ground. Take it slowly, and use your hands where you need them.

Above the steps the gradient eases, and the path crosses grassy ground just beneath the summit crags. By our map it passes within about 20 metres of them, before it curves round to reach the top from the north. The summit, 1,044 metres up and about 3.6 km out by our map, is a cairn on gravelly ground. Crags fall away close to its east side, by our map about 40 metres from the cairn: keep well back from that edge. On a clear day the views run along the ridge to Meall Garbh, and south to Ben More and the Crianlarich hills, Steven Fallon says.

The path does not end at the summit. It goes on south along the crest towards Meall Garbh: that is the Tarmachan Ridge, not the way home. The traverse goes on over Meall Garbh and Beinn nan Eachan to Creag na Caillich. Beyond Meall Garbh it has a short, steep, hands-on descent, which Steven Fallon classes as a Grade 1 rock scramble, and narrow, exposed stretches. It is a harder undertaking, and this walk turns back at the summit. The hill has many crags that call for careful navigation, Munro Magic warns, and visibility can change fast as the cloud comes down. Before you leave the cairn, make sure you are on the path you came up by: it leaves the summit northwards and curves round to the east and south, under the crags. If the cloud comes down, the wind rises or anyone is tiring, turn back by the way you came: Forestry and Land Scotland asks walkers to turn back if they get tired. One walker turned back at the summit in thick fog and heavy rain rather than go on along the ridge, and so should you.

Under snow it is a winter mountain. Most incidents in its area, Killin Mountain Rescue Team says, come from people slipping on hard snow without crampons or losing their way in mist. The steep section below the summit is the hardest part under snow, Stunning Outdoors found, often deep in drifts. Go in winter only with experience of walking in snow and the right equipment, one guide says. No avalanche forecast covers the hill. The Scottish Avalanche Information Service forecasts six other areas, from Lochaber and Glencoe to the Cairngorms and Torridon, which is no sign there is no risk here. In snow the hill road beyond the Trust's car park may be impassable.

The way down is the way you came. Leave the cairn northwards and follow the path round under the crags, then go down the stepped section with care. Then cross the stepping stones and the stile, climb back over the South Top and go down the ridge and east across the hillside to the burn and the track. If someone is hurt, 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.