Number 80 of 282 by height · West Highlands
Beinn a' Chaorainn
3,442 ft (1,049 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 386 850
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.92864, -4.65366
- Area
- West Highlands
The walk up
No route line yet: the mapped paths near the summit do not join up with a car park. See Getting there below for the nearest place to park.
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Fair
- Temperature
- 37°F (3°C)
- Wind chill
- 32°F (0°C)
- Wind
- 5 mph (9 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 20%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,705 ft (1,434 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:27, 16:36
Getting there
By car
Car park with no name on the map. Parking charge not known. The nearest public car park to the summit, 2.3 mi (3.7 km) away in a straight line. Not necessarily the usual start.
Driving directions to the Beinn a' Chaorainn car park56.89567,-4.66087
By train
Nearest station: Tulloch, 1.7 mi (2.8 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Moy Lodge - Eastbound, 3.9 mi (6.3 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 Beinn a' Chaorainn
- Means
- Mountain of the rowan tree
Beinn a' Chaorainn stands on the north side of Glen Spean in Lochaber, about 19 miles east-north-east of Fort William, among the Loch Laggan Hills, with the Creag Meagaidh range to the north-east and Beinn Teallach 1.6 miles to the west. It is essentially a north-south ridge that looks an undistinguished bulk from Roughburn on the A86. The best view is from the east, where the crags of Coire na h-Uamha give it character.
The summit ridge is about a mile long with three high points, and the middle one is the summit. The South Top was counted the highest until re-surveying in 1974, and the North Top has been a Top since the tables were first published in 1891. A col at 2,014 ft (614 m) links it to Beinn Teallach, and the Bealach a' Bharnish, 2,703 ft (824 m), leads onto the Creag Meagaidh plateau.
The hill rises 745 ft (227 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, and the summit cairn looks out over the Munros around Loch Treig.
Tops on Beinn a' Chaorainn
2 lower summits in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Beinn a' Chaorainn South TopNN 386 845 | 3,440 ft (1,049 m) | 0.3 mi (0.5 km) |
| Beinn a' Chaorainn North TopNN 383 857 | 3,422 ft (1,043 m) | 0.4 mi (0.7 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Beinn a' Chaorainn 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Beinn Teallach | 3,001 ft (915 m) | 1.6 mi (2.6 km) |
| Creag Meagaidh | 3,701 ft (1,128 m) | 2.5 mi (4.1 km) |
| Stob Poite Coire Ardair | 3,458 ft (1,054 m) | 3.5 mi (5.7 km) |
Common questions about Beinn a' Chaorainn
- How high is Beinn a' Chaorainn?
- Beinn a' Chaorainn is 3,442 ft (1,049 m), number 80 of the 282 Munros by height, in the West Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Beinn a' Chaorainn?
- We do not have a mapped route up Beinn a' Chaorainn yet, because the paths near the summit are not joined up on the map. Plan it with a proper map and allow a long day.
- Where do you park for Beinn a' Chaorainn?
- The nearest public car park to the summit is a car park with no name on the map.
- Can you climb Beinn a' Chaorainn without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Tulloch, 1.7 mi (2.8 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Moy Lodge - Eastbound, 3.9 mi (6.3 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- What does Beinn a' Chaorainn mean?
- It is usually translated as "mountain of the rowan tree".
- When is the best time to climb Beinn a' Chaorainn?
- 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.
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. Beinn a' Chaorainn is hill 663 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.