Number 183 of 282 by height · Southeastern Highlands
A' Mharconaich
3,193 ft (973 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 604 762
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.85702, -4.29067
- Area
- Southeastern Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 2.6 mi (4.3 km)
- Climb
- 1,795 ft (547 m)
- Estimated time up
- 1 h 45 min
- Start
- Car park near Coire Chuirm
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Clear sky
- Temperature
- 38°F (3°C)
- Wind chill
- 33°F (0°C)
- Wind
- 6 mph (10 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 7%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,757 ft (1,450 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:26, 16:35
The way up
From Car park near Coire Chuirm, follow the path south-west for 2.1 mi, climbing steadily from 1,400 ft to 2,800 ft. On the way you cross the River Truim and the Allt Coire Fhar. It then turns south for the last 0.5 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 2,800 ft to 3,200 ft. The steepest part is between 1,800 ft and 2,400 ft, about 1.1 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,193 ft (973 m).
Written from the map, not from walking it. Paths on the ground can differ, so carry a map and compass.See it in 3D.
Getting there
By car
Car park near Coire Chuirm. Parking charge not known. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the A' Mharconaich car park56.88333,-4.25342
By train
Nearest station: Dalwhinnie, 3.6 mi (5.8 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: North Drumochter Lodge, 0.4 mi (0.6 km) from the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Public transport directionsBus and train times on Traveline Scotland
About A' Mharconaich
- Means
- The horse place
A' Mharconaich is one of the Drumochter Hills, the group between Loch Ericht and the A9. It lies just inside the Cairngorms National Park, though it is not part of the Cairngorms range. From the A9 it shows its steeper, more rugged eastern side, with a high corrie beneath the summit and a steep ridge on either side of it.
The summit ridge runs south-west to north-east for just over half a mile, with a high point at each end. The north-east end is the Munro summit. The 1974 tables moved it to the south-west top, Bruach nan Iomairean, possibly in error, but it moved back in 1981. A ridge from Bruach nan Iomairean links to the Boar of Badenoch, a fine viewpoint over the pass, and the ground towards Beinn Udlamain is part of the Dalnaspidal deer forest and often full of deer.
The highest point is a small cairn and the ground about 5 m south-east of it. The hill rises 367 ft (112 m) above the col linking it to Sgairneach Mhor.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on A' Mharconaich in the middle of each month. The shorter the day, the earlier you need to start.
Stag stalking season, 1 July to 20 October. On many estates, walkers are asked to keep to set routes on stalking days: check the Scottish Outdoor Access Code site's Heading for the Scottish Hills service before you go.
Nearest Munros
| Munro | Height | Straight-line distance |
|---|---|---|
| Geal-charn | 3,009 ft (917 m) | 1.3 mi (2.1 km) |
| Sgairneach Mhor | 3,251 ft (991 m) | 2.0 mi (3.2 km) |
| Beinn Udlamain | 3,314 ft (1,010 m) | 2.1 mi (3.4 km) |
Common questions about A' Mharconaich
- How high is A' Mharconaich?
- A' Mharconaich is 3,193 ft (973 m), number 183 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Southeastern Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb A' Mharconaich?
- About 1 h 45 min up and 50 min back down by our route from Car park near Coire Chuirm, before stops: 2.6 mi (4.3 km) each way with 1,795 ft (547 m) of climbing. That is one of the quicker Munros to climb. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for A' Mharconaich?
- Our route starts at Car park near Coire Chuirm.
- Can you climb A' Mharconaich without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Dalwhinnie, 3.6 mi (5.8 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is North Drumochter Lodge, 0.4 mi (0.6 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is A' Mharconaich a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the quicker Munros to climb, with 1,795 ft (547 m) of ascent over 2.6 mi (4.3 km). Like every Munro it reaches over 3,000 ft, where the weather can be far worse than at the car park, so take a map and compass and check the mountain forecast.
- What does A' Mharconaich mean?
- It is usually translated as "the horse place".
- When is the best time to climb A' Mharconaich?
- Daylight runs from about 18 hours in mid June to 7 hours in mid December, so summer gives the most time. From 1 July to 20 October it is the stag stalking season, when some estates ask walkers to keep to set routes. In winter, snow and ice turn most Munros into mountaineering terrain.
A guide only. Mountain conditions change fast: carry a map and compass and know how to use them, and read the mountain forecast for the Southeastern Highlands before you go.
Questions
Where can I get a proper mountain forecast?
Read the Mountain Weather Information Service forecast for the Southeastern Highlands, written by forecasters for walkers and climbers. In winter, also read the Scottish Avalanche Information Service report for the area.
Where does the summit weather come from?
From MET Norway's forecast model, fetched for every Munro once an hour at the summit's own height. It is computer output for one point, not a forecast written for mountains, so treat it as a guide. The past hours are what the forecast said at the time. Wind chill, the freezing level and sunrise and sunset are worked out by this site from those figures; the freezing level assumes temperature drops steadily with height, so it can be well out when cold air sits in the glens.
How was this route drawn?
It follows footpaths and tracks mapped on OpenStreetMap, from a public car park to the summit, with heights from Copernicus elevation data. A computer picked the start as the car park with the quickest mapped way up, counting the climbing as well as the distance. Nobody has checked it on the hill yet, so it may not be the usual way up, and the path may be faint or missing on the ground. A line on a map is not a description of the ground.
- Wikipedia gives Pass of Drumochter as the usual start, but by mapped paths it is much longer from there, so this route starts closer.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T19:57:04.412Z. Start chosen automatically: the public car park on a public road with the shortest mapped-path route to the summit (busy roads and T4 paths weighted against).
- Elevation: Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (© DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA), sampled every 50 m, 3-sample median, 5 m hysteresis on ascent.
- Summit position: Database of British and Irish Hills v18 (CC BY 4.0).
Built 2026-10-25.
How is the time up worked out?
With Naismith's rule, the standard hill-walking estimate: an hour for every 3.1 miles (5 km), plus an hour for every 1,969 ft (600 m) of climbing, with no stops. For this route that gives about 1 h 45 min, one way. It ignores rough ground, weather, stops and the walk back down, so most people take longer.
Where do the car parks and bus stops come from?
From OpenStreetMap. Distances are straight lines, not the way you would walk or drive. A bus stop on the map says nothing about how often a bus calls: many Highland buses run a few times a day, some only on school days or by booking, so check Traveline Scotland first. The map cannot tell whether a car park is on a public road, so a remote one may only be reachable on foot or by train.
Where do the Gaelic names and stories come from?
From the hill's article on English Wikipedia and its Wikidata entry, put into a few words of our own. Meanings and pronunciations are only given where the article states them; many Gaelic hill names are old and their meaning is uncertain. Read the full article.
Where do the height and grid reference come from?
From the Database of British and Irish Hills, the surveyed list most baggers use. A' Mharconaich is hill 386 there.
Sources: Database of British and Irish Hills (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap (ODbL), MET Norway (CC BY 4.0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikidata, Copernicus elevation data, Sentinel-2 cloudless imagery by EOX. All credits and licences.