Number 167 of 282 by height · West Highlands
An Gearanach
3,220 ft (982 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 187 669
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.75919, -4.96625
- Area
- West Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 2.9 mi (4.7 km)
- Climb
- 2,769 ft (844 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 20 min
- Start
- Car park near Tigh an Steill
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Fair
- Temperature
- 36°F (2°C)
- Wind chill
- 33°F (1°C)
- Wind
- 4 mph (6 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 20%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,331 ft (1,320 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:28, 16:38
The way up
From Car park near Tigh an Steill, follow the path east for 0.5 mi, climbing gently from 490 ft to 670 ft. On the way you cross the Allt Garbh. It then turns south-east for the last 2.0 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 670 ft to 3,200 ft. On the way you cross the Water of Nevis and the Allt Coire Chadha Chaoruinn. The steepest part is between 1,600 ft and 2,800 ft, about 1.7 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,220 ft (982 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 Tigh an Steill. Free to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the An Gearanach car park56.77746,-5.00078
By train
Nearest station: Fort William, 5.0 mi (8.0 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Lower Falls, 1.5 mi (2.4 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 An Gearanach
- Means
- Uncertain, possibly short ridge or the complainer
An Gearanach stands in the Mamore Forest about 3.5 miles north of Kinlochleven, one of the Mamores, the group of 10 Munros and two Corbetts between Loch Leven and Glen Nevis. Its upper part is a north-south ridge just over half a mile long, with steep flanks dropping into Coire a' Mhail to the west and Coire na Gabhalach to the east.
The An Steall Ban waterfall drops 394 ft (120 m) down its lower northern slopes. The crags above the falls have caused fatal accidents when walkers left the stalkers' path to head straight down. Its subsidiary top, An Garbhanach, lies about a quarter of a mile south along a ridge that narrows to a knife-edge arete.
By survey the summit is about 0.2 m higher than neighbouring Stob Coire a' Chairn. A cairn marks the top, and the hill rises 498 ft (152 m) above the col that links it to higher ground.
Tops on An Gearanach
One lower summit in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| An GarbhanachNN 188 665 | 3,198 ft (975 m) | 0.3 mi (0.4 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on An Gearanach 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stob Coire a' Chairn | 3,219 ft (981 m) | 0.6 mi (1.0 km) |
| Am Bodach | 3,385 ft (1,032 m) | 1.4 mi (2.2 km) |
| Sgurr a' Mhaim | 3,606 ft (1,099 m) | 1.4 mi (2.3 km) |
Part of a bigger day: 6 Munros in one go, Am Bodach, Stob Coire a' Chairn, Na Gruagaichean, Binnein Mor, Binnein Beag.
Common questions about An Gearanach
- How high is An Gearanach?
- An Gearanach is 3,220 ft (982 m), number 167 of the 282 Munros by height, in the West Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb An Gearanach?
- About 2 h 20 min up and 1 h back down by our route from Car park near Tigh an Steill, before stops: 2.9 mi (4.7 km) each way with 2,769 ft (844 m) of climbing. That is one of the quicker Munros to climb. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for An Gearanach?
- Our route starts at Car park near Tigh an Steill. It is free to park.
- Can you climb An Gearanach without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Fort William, 5.0 mi (8.0 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Lower Falls, 1.5 mi (2.4 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is An Gearanach a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the quicker Munros to climb, with 2,769 ft (844 m) of ascent over 2.9 mi (4.7 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.
- Can you climb other Munros with An Gearanach?
- Yes. An Gearanach can be linked with Am Bodach, Stob Coire a' Chairn, Na Gruagaichean, Binnein Mor, Binnein Beag along the ridge, for 6 Munros in one long day. See Big days for the full plan.
- What does An Gearanach mean?
- The meaning is uncertain: possibly short ridge or the complainer.
- When is the best time to climb An Gearanach?
- 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 West Highlands before you go.
Questions
Where can I get a proper mountain forecast?
Read the Mountain Weather Information Service forecast for the West 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 Glen Nevis 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 2026-10-24T19:57:37.957Z. 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 2 h 20 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. An Gearanach is hill 312 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.