Number 12 of 282 by height · Cairngorms and Monadhliath
Beinn Mheadhoin
3,881 ft (1,183 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NJ 024 016
- Latitude, longitude
- 57.09586, -3.61147
- Area
- Cairngorms and Monadhliath
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 6.0 mi (9.6 km)
- Climb
- 3,258 ft (993 m)
- Estimated time up
- 3 h 35 min
- Start
- Coire Cas Car Park
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 20:25. Not live.
- Weather
- Partly cloudy
- Temperature
- 31°F (−1°C)
- Wind chill
- 25°F (−4°C)
- Wind
- 6 mph (10 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 86%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 3,579 ft (1,091 m), below the summit
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:24, 16:31
The way up
From Coire Cas Car Park, follow the path south-east for 2.9 mi, climbing gently from 2,050 ft to 2,750 ft. On the way you go over 1141m (NaN ft). It then turns south-west for 0.5 mi, dropping from 2,750 ft to 2,350 ft. On the way you pass Loch Avon on your left and cross the Garbh Uisge. It then turns south-east for 1.0 mi, climbing steadily from 2,350 ft to 3,100 ft. It then turns north-east for the last 1.3 mi to the summit, climbing steadily from 3,100 ft to 3,900 ft. On the way you pass Loch Etchachan on your right. The steepest part is between 2,950 ft and 3,700 ft, about 1.1 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,881 ft (1,183 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
Coire Cas Car Park. Pay to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Beinn Mheadhoin car park57.13512,-3.67133
By train
Nearest station: Aviemore, 7.0 mi (11 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Cairngorm Ski Centre, 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
- Place to eat: Cairngorm Cafe 0.1 mi (0.2 km)
- Toilets 0.1 mi (0.2 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 Mheadhoin
- Means
- Middle mountain
Beinn Mheadhoin lies in the very heart of the Cairngorms in Moray, ringed by deep glens and lochs including Loch A'an, Loch Etchachan and the Dubh Lochan. At 3,881 ft (1,183 m) it is the 12th highest Munro, and it rises 833 ft (254 m) above the col that links it to higher ground.
Cairn Gorm, 1.9 miles away, is its nearest higher neighbour, while Beinn a' Chaorainn lies 1.3 miles off and Derry Cairngorm 2.3 miles. Stob Coire Etchachan and Stacan Dubha are its subsidiary Tops. The summit is broad and flat, and a rock tor marks the highest point.
Tops on Beinn Mheadhoin
2 lower summits in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Stob Coire EtchachanNJ 024 005 | 3,550 ft (1,082 m) | 0.7 mi (1.2 km) |
| Stacan DubhaNJ 011 015 | 3,327 ft (1,014 m) | 0.8 mi (1.3 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Beinn Mheadhoin 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 a' Chaorainn | 3,553 ft (1,083 m) | 1.3 mi (2.1 km) |
| Cairn Gorm | 4,084 ft (1,245 m) | 1.9 mi (3.1 km) |
| Derry Cairngorm | 3,789 ft (1,155 m) | 2.3 mi (3.7 km) |
Common questions about Beinn Mheadhoin
- How high is Beinn Mheadhoin?
- Beinn Mheadhoin is 3,881 ft (1,183 m), number 12 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Cairngorms and Monadhliath.
- How long does it take to climb Beinn Mheadhoin?
- About 3 h 35 min up and 2 h 40 min back down by our route from Coire Cas Car Park, before stops: 6.0 mi (9.6 km) each way with 3,258 ft (993 m) of climbing. That is one of the longer Munro days. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Beinn Mheadhoin?
- Our route starts at Coire Cas Car Park. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Beinn Mheadhoin without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Aviemore, 7.0 mi (11 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Cairngorm Ski Centre, 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 Mheadhoin a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the longer Munro days, with 3,258 ft (993 m) of ascent over 6.0 mi (9.6 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 Mheadhoin mean?
- It is usually translated as "middle mountain".
- When is the best time to climb Beinn Mheadhoin?
- 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 Cairngorms and Monadhliath before you go.
Questions
Where can I get a proper mountain forecast?
Read the Mountain Weather Information Service forecast for the Cairngorms and Monadhliath, 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 1,456 ft on the way up, so it may cross another top or a bealach first.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T19:59:57.025Z. Start: the public car park nearest the usual start named on Wikipedia (Coire Cas car park, found by "Coire Cas" 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 35 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 Mheadhoin is hill 531 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.