Number 129 of 282 by height · Northwest Highlands
Beinn Fhionnlaidh
3,297 ft (1,005 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NH 115 282
- Latitude, longitude
- 57.30600, -5.12992
- Area
- Northwest Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 8.7 mi (14 km)
- Climb
- 3,973 ft (1,211 m)
- Estimated time up
- 4 h 50 min
- Start
- River Affric
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 20:25. Not live.
- Weather
- Fair
- Temperature
- 33°F (1°C)
- Wind chill
- 30°F (−1°C)
- Wind
- 3 mph (5 km/h) from the west
- Cloud cover
- 27%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 3,701 ft (1,128 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:31, 16:37
The way up
From River Affric, follow the road west for 1.2 mi, almost level. On the way you pass Loch Affric on your left. Then follow the track west for 2.8 mi, climbing gently from 790 ft to 1,500 ft. Then follow the path north-west for 2.1 mi, climbing steeply from 1,500 ft to 3,600 ft. It then turns north-east for 0.9 mi, climbing gently from 3,600 ft to 3,850 ft. On the way you go over Màm Sodhail (3,850 ft). It then turns north for the last 1.5 mi to the summit, dropping from 3,850 ft to 3,300 ft. On the way you go over Càrn Eige (3,900 ft), go over Stob Coire Lochan (3,000 ft) and reach the bealach of Bealach Beag. The steepest part is between 2,850 ft and 3,550 ft, about 5.5 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,297 ft (1,005 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
River Affric. Pay to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Beinn Fhionnlaidh car park57.26503,-4.98481
By train
Nearest station: Attadale, 20 mi (32 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Top Car Park, right by the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Toilets by the start
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 Fhionnlaidh
Beinn Fhionnlaidh stands on the south side of Loch Mullardoch at the end of Glen Cannich, about 37 miles west of Inverness. It lies at the end of the north ridge of Carn Eighe, its nearest higher neighbour 1.4 miles away, linked by the Bealach Beag, and Mam Sodhail is 1.8 miles off.
It rises 568 ft (173 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, enough to make it a Marilyn. A large cairn marks the summit, though a rock about 12 m south-south-east may be just as high.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Beinn Fhionnlaidh 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Carn Eighe | 3,881 ft (1,183 m) | 1.4 mi (2.2 km) |
| Mam Sodhail | 3,869 ft (1,179 m) | 1.8 mi (3.0 km) |
| Mullach na Dheiragain | 3,222 ft (982 m) | 2.6 mi (4.2 km) |
Common questions about Beinn Fhionnlaidh
- How high is Beinn Fhionnlaidh?
- Beinn Fhionnlaidh is 3,297 ft (1,005 m), number 129 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Northwest Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Beinn Fhionnlaidh?
- About 4 h 50 min up and 3 h 35 min back down by our route from River Affric, before stops: 8.7 mi (14 km) each way with 3,973 ft (1,211 m) of climbing. That is one of the longer Munro days. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Beinn Fhionnlaidh?
- Our route starts at River Affric. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Beinn Fhionnlaidh without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Attadale, 20 mi (32 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Top Car Park, 0.0 mi (0.1 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Beinn Fhionnlaidh a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the longer Munro days, with 3,973 ft (1,211 m) of ascent over 8.7 mi (14 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.
- When is the best time to climb Beinn Fhionnlaidh?
- 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 Northwest Highlands before you go.
Questions
Where can I get a proper mountain forecast?
Read the Mountain Weather Information Service forecast for the Northwest 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.
- Drops 1,535 ft on the way up, so it may cross another top or a bealach first.
- Climbs to about 3,848 ft on the way, higher than this summit (3,297 ft), so it crosses a bigger hill first.
- Long walk-in: 8.7 mi one way.
- Goes over Carn Eighe on the way.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T20:03:25.525Z. 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 4 h 50 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 Fhionnlaidh is hill 826 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.