Number 64 of 282 by height · West Highlands
Beinn Dorain
Beinn Dòbhrain
3,530 ft (1,076 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 325 378
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.50288, -4.72216
- Area
- West Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 3.4 mi (5.5 km)
- Climb
- 3,035 ft (925 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 40 min
- Start
- Car park near Bridge of Orchy
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 21:21. Not live.
- Weather
- Clear sky
- Temperature
- 31°F (−1°C)
- Wind
- 2 mph (4 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 1%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 3,127 ft (953 m), below the summit
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:26, 16:38
The way up
From the car park near Bridge of Orchy, follow the road east for 0.3 mi, climbing gently from 520 ft to 620 ft. On the way you cross the River Orchy by a bridge. Then follow the path east for 1.4 mi, climbing steeply from 620 ft to 1,950 ft. On the way you cross the Allt Coire an Dothaidh. It then turns south for the last 1.6 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 1,950 ft to 3,550 ft. On the way you reach the bealach of Cairn and go over Cairn Sasunnaich (3,500 ft). The steepest part is between 1,850 ft and 2,700 ft, about 1.7 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,530 ft (1,076 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 Bridge of Orchy. Pay to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Beinn Dorain car park56.51786,-4.77183
By train
Nearest station: Bridge of Orchy, 0.3 mi (0.5 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Hotel, right by the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Place to eat: Bridge of Orchy Hotel by the start
- Hostel: West Highland Way Sleeper 0.3 mi (0.5 km)
- Toilets 1.7 mi (2.8 km)
- Shop: Buth Bheag - The Wee Shop 1.7 mi (2.8 km)
From OpenStreetMap. Places close or change hours, especially in winter, so check before you rely on one.
Public transport directionsBus and train times on Traveline Scotland
About Beinn Dorain
- In Gaelic
- Beinn Dòbhrain
- Means
- Hill of the otter
Beinn Dorain stands in the Breadalbane region above Bridge of Orchy in Argyll. At 3,530 ft (1,076 m) it rises 1,089 ft (332 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, and Beinn an Dothaidh, 1.9 miles away, is its usual partner.
Duncan Ban MacIntyre, who spent his youth in these parts and worked here as a gamekeeper, made the hill the subject of his best-known Gaelic poem, Moladh Beinn Dobhrainn, in which he honours it above every other hill he has seen. Ronald Stevenson's 2007 setting for choruses and orchestras used both the Gaelic text and Hugh MacDiarmid's English translation. It was first performed in Glasgow on 19 January 2008 by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Opera Chorus, Glasgow University Chapel Choir and The Edinburgh Singers.
Its nearest higher Munro is Beinn a' Chreachain, 4.9 miles away, and a large cairn marks the summit.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Beinn Dorain 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) | 1.9 mi (3.1 km) |
| Beinn Achaladair | 3,407 ft (1,039 m) | 3.5 mi (5.7 km) |
| Beinn Mhanach | 3,127 ft (953 m) | 3.6 mi (5.8 km) |
Common questions about Beinn Dorain
- How high is Beinn Dorain?
- Beinn Dorain is 3,530 ft (1,076 m), number 64 of the 282 Munros by height, in the West Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Beinn Dorain?
- About 2 h 40 min up and 1 h 10 min back down by our route from the car park near Bridge of Orchy, before stops: 3.4 mi (5.5 km) each way with 3,035 ft (925 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Beinn Dorain?
- Our route starts at the car park near Bridge of Orchy. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Beinn Dorain without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Bridge of Orchy, 0.3 mi (0.5 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Hotel, 0.1 mi (0.2 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Beinn Dorain a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 3,035 ft (925 m) of ascent over 3.4 mi (5.5 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 Dorain mean?
- In Gaelic it is Beinn Dòbhrain. It is usually translated as "hill of the otter".
- When is the best time to climb Beinn Dorain?
- 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 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 40 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 Dorain is hill 105 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.