Number 261 of 282 by height · Northwest Highlands
Beinn Liath Mhor
Beinn Liath Mhòr
3,038 ft (926 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NG 964 519
- Latitude, longitude
- 57.51211, -5.40062
- Area
- Northwest Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 4.6 mi (7.3 km)
- Climb
- 3,248 ft (990 m)
- Estimated time up
- 3 h 5 min
- Start
- Car park by Achnashellach station
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Partly cloudy
- Temperature
- 35°F (2°C)
- Wind chill
- 32°F (0°C)
- Wind
- 4 mph (6 km/h) from the west
- Cloud cover
- 52%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 3,996 ft (1,218 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:33, 16:37
The way up
From Car park by Achnashellach station, follow the track west for 0.7 mi, climbing gently from 180 ft to 320 ft. Then follow the path north-west for the last 3.6 mi to the summit, climbing steadily from 320 ft to 3,050 ft. On the way you go over Beinn Liath Mhor Far East Top (2,850 ft) and go over Beinn Liath Mhor East Top (2,900 ft). The steepest part is between 1,450 ft and 2,650 ft, about 2.4 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,038 ft (926 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 by Achnashellach station. Free to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Beinn Liath Mhor car park57.48146,-5.32939
By train
Nearest station: Achnashellach, right by the car park.
By bus
No bus stop on the map within 5 miles of the car park. The nearest is Railway Station, 5.5 mi (8.9 km) away. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Toilets 0.4 mi (0.7 km)
- Campsite: Achnashellach Campsite 0.5 mi (0.7 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 Liath Mhor
- In Gaelic
- Beinn Liath Mhòr
Beinn Liath Mhor stands between Strath Carron and Glen Torridon in Wester Ross. Its undulating summit ridge, a little over a mile long, never drops below 2,600 ft (800 m) and is made of pale quartzite stones. The summit at the far western end is crowned by a quartzite cairn.
It is one of three hills ringing the rugged Coire Lair, alongside the Munro Sgorr Ruadh, its nearest higher neighbour 1.0 mile away, and Fuar Tholl, counted by mountain writers among the finest Corbetts. It rises 889 ft (271 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, making it a Marilyn. The top looks west over the Torridon hills, down on many small lochans and out to Upper Loch Torridon.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Beinn Liath Mhor 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sgorr Ruadh | 3,152 ft (961 m) | 1.0 mi (1.6 km) |
| Maol Chean-dearg | 3,061 ft (933 m) | 2.8 mi (4.5 km) |
| Spidean a' Choire Leith (Liathach) | 3,461 ft (1,055 m) | 4.3 mi (6.9 km) |
Common questions about Beinn Liath Mhor
- How high is Beinn Liath Mhor?
- Beinn Liath Mhor is 3,038 ft (926 m), number 261 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Northwest Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Beinn Liath Mhor?
- About 3 h 5 min up and 1 h 40 min back down by our route from Car park by Achnashellach station, before stops: 4.6 mi (7.3 km) each way with 3,248 ft (990 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Beinn Liath Mhor?
- Our route starts at Car park by Achnashellach station. It is free to park.
- Can you climb Beinn Liath Mhor without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Achnashellach, right by the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Beinn Liath Mhor a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 3,248 ft (990 m) of ascent over 4.6 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.
- When is the best time to climb Beinn Liath Mhor?
- 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.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T20:04:01.699Z. Start: the public car park nearest the usual start named on Wikipedia (Achnashellach, found by "Achnashellach station" on OpenStreetMap) 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 3 h 5 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 Liath Mhor is hill 983 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.