Number 94 of 282 by height · West Highlands
Beinn Achaladair
3,407 ft (1,039 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 344 432
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.55190, -4.69454
- Area
- West Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 4.5 mi (7.3 km)
- Climb
- 2,917 ft (889 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 55 min
- Start
- Car park near Achallader
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Partly cloudy
- Temperature
- 37°F (3°C)
- Wind chill
- 33°F (0°C)
- Wind
- 5 mph (8 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 79%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,721 ft (1,439 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:26, 16:37
The way up
From Car park near Achallader, follow the path south-east for 2.5 mi, climbing steadily from 600 ft to 2,350 ft. On the way you cross the Allt Coire Achaladair. It then turns north-east for 0.5 mi, climbing steeply from 2,350 ft to 2,900 ft. On the way you cross the Allt Coire Achaladair. It then turns north for the last 1.4 mi to the summit, climbing gently from 2,900 ft to 3,400 ft. The steepest part is between 1,500 ft and 2,150 ft, about 1.7 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,407 ft (1,039 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 Achallader. Free to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Beinn Achaladair car park56.56041,-4.73188
By train
Nearest station: Bridge of Orchy, 3.3 mi (5.3 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Hotel, 3.3 mi (5.3 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 Achaladair
- Means
- Field of hard water, or hill of the mower
Beinn Achaladair stands about 4 miles north-east of Bridge of Orchy on the border of Perth and Kinross and Argyll and Bute. It is a clear landmark from the A82 and the West Highland Line, and from the north-west it shows steep, wall-like slopes. It belongs to the southern Highlands but sits at their northern edge, with much of the rocky character of the hills further north.
Its curved summit ridge runs north to south for over a mile. The highest point is at the northern end above Rannoch Moor, where two cairns stand close together and the northern one is higher by a couple of feet. The South Top lies about two-thirds of a mile further south. East of the ridge, Coire nan Clach holds eight tiny lochans and drains down Gleann Cailliche to Loch Lyon.
Beside Achallader farm, at the foot of the northern slopes, are the remains of Achallader Castle, one of Campbell of Glenorchy's seven strongholds. The hill rises 741 ft (226 m) above the col that links it to higher ground.
Tops on Beinn Achaladair
One lower summit in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Beinn Achaladair South TopNN 342 420 | 3,293 ft (1,004 m) | 0.8 mi (1.2 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Beinn Achaladair 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 an Dothaidh | 3,294 ft (1,004 m) | 1.7 mi (2.7 km) |
| Beinn a' Chreachain | 3,545 ft (1,081 m) | 1.9 mi (3.0 km) |
| Beinn Mhanach | 3,127 ft (953 m) | 2.2 mi (3.6 km) |
Common questions about Beinn Achaladair
- How high is Beinn Achaladair?
- Beinn Achaladair is 3,407 ft (1,039 m), number 94 of the 282 Munros by height, in the West Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Beinn Achaladair?
- About 2 h 55 min up and 1 h 30 min back down by our route from Car park near Achallader, before stops: 4.5 mi (7.3 km) each way with 2,917 ft (889 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Beinn Achaladair?
- Our route starts at Car park near Achallader. It is free to park.
- Can you climb Beinn Achaladair without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Bridge of Orchy, 3.3 mi (5.3 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Hotel, 3.3 mi (5.3 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Beinn Achaladair a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 2,917 ft (889 m) of ascent over 4.5 mi (7.3 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 Beinn Achaladair mean?
- It is usually translated as "field of hard water, or hill of the mower".
- When is the best time to climb Beinn Achaladair?
- 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.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T19:57:04.412Z. Start: the public car park nearest the usual start named on Wikipedia (Achallader farm, found by grid reference NN322442) with the shortest mapped-path route to the summit.
- 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 55 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. Beinn Achaladair is hill 108 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.