Number 249 of 282 by height · Southeastern Highlands
Ben Chonzie
Beinn a' Chomhainn
3,054 ft (931 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 773 308
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.45386, -3.99206
- Area
- Southeastern Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 3.9 mi (6.3 km)
- Climb
- 2,339 ft (713 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 25 min
- Start
- Car park near Torluad
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 20:25. Not live.
- Weather
- Clear sky
- Temperature
- 33°F (1°C)
- Wind
- 3 mph (5 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 2%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 3,409 ft (1,039 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:23, 16:35
The way up
From Car park near Torluad, follow the track north for 1.0 mi, climbing steadily from 700 ft to 1,150 ft. On the way you cross the Invergeldie Burn. It then turns east for 1.6 mi, climbing steadily from 1,150 ft to 2,300 ft. On the way you cross the Dryloch Burn and the Invergeldie Burn. Then follow the path north for the last 1.2 mi to the summit, climbing steadily from 2,300 ft to 3,050 ft. The steepest part is between 2,100 ft and 2,800 ft, about 2.5 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,054 ft (931 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 Torluad. Parking charge not known. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Ben Chonzie car park56.42092,-4.03937
By train
Nearest station: Gleneagles, 16 mi (25 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Station Road, 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 Ben Chonzie
- In Gaelic
- Beinn a' Chomhainn
- Means
- Mountain of the narrowness, or possibly mossy mountain
Ben Chonzie, also called Ben-y-Hone, lies about 7 miles north-west of Crieff in the Breadalbane region. It is the highest point of a wide spread of moorland and rounded hills between Loch Earn and Loch Tay, and it stands well apart, with the nearest higher Munro, Meall Greigh, 10.1 miles away. It rises 2,122 ft (647 m) above the col that links it to higher ground.
The south-eastern side above Glen Turret shows more character, with a run of buttresses and cliffs. Buzzards and other birds of prey hunt the approaches, frogs and newts live in the pools by the track, and deer may be seen on the slopes to the north. A cairn and shelter mark the summit.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Ben Chonzie 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Meall Greigh | 3,284 ft (1,001 m) | 10 mi (16 km) |
| Ben Lawers | 3,983 ft (1,214 m) | 11 mi (17 km) |
| Beinn Ghlas | 3,619 ft (1,103 m) | 11 mi (18 km) |
Common questions about Ben Chonzie
- How high is Ben Chonzie?
- Ben Chonzie is 3,054 ft (931 m), number 249 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Southeastern Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Ben Chonzie?
- About 2 h 25 min up and 1 h 15 min back down by our route from Car park near Torluad, before stops: 3.9 mi (6.3 km) each way with 2,339 ft (713 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Ben Chonzie?
- Our route starts at Car park near Torluad.
- Can you climb Ben Chonzie without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Gleneagles, 16 mi (25 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Station Road, 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 Ben Chonzie a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 2,339 ft (713 m) of ascent over 3.9 mi (6.3 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 Ben Chonzie mean?
- In Gaelic it is Beinn a' Chomhainn. It is usually translated as "mountain of the narrowness, or possibly mossy mountain".
- When is the best time to climb Ben Chonzie?
- 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 Southeastern Highlands before you go.
Questions
Where can I get a proper mountain forecast?
Read the Mountain Weather Information Service forecast for the Southeastern 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 2026-10-24T19:52:38.297Z. Start: the public car park nearest the usual start named on Wikipedia (Invergeldie, found by "Invergeldie" 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 2 h 25 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. Ben Chonzie is hill 1 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.