Number 144 of 282 by height · Northwest Highlands
Ben More Assynt
Beinn Mhòr Asainn
3,274 ft (998 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NC 318 201
- Latitude, longitude
- 58.13819, -4.85821
- Area
- Northwest Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 5.5 mi (8.9 km)
- Climb
- 3,346 ft (1,020 m)
- Estimated time up
- 3 h 30 min
- Start
- Car park near Inchnadamph
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Cloudy
- Temperature
- 36°F (2°C)
- Wind chill
- 30°F (−1°C)
- Wind
- 7 mph (11 km/h) from the west
- Cloud cover
- 92%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,383 ft (1,336 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:33, 16:32
The way up
From Car park near Inchnadamph, follow the road east for 1.1 mi, climbing gently from 240 ft to 460 ft. On the way you pass Loch Assynt on your right and cross a bridge. Then follow the track south-east for 1300 ft, climbing gently from 460 ft to 550 ft. Then follow the path east for 1.5 mi, climbing gently from 550 ft to 1,100 ft. It then turns north-east for 0.7 mi, climbing very steeply from 1,100 ft to 2,250 ft. On the way you cross the Allt a' Choinne' Mhill. It then turns east for the last 1.8 mi to the summit, climbing steadily from 2,250 ft to 3,250 ft. On the way you go over Conival (3,250 ft). The steepest part is between 1,300 ft and 2,250 ft, about 3.0 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,274 ft (998 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 Inchnadamph. Free to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Ben More Assynt car park58.15198,-4.97603
By train
Nearest station: Lairg, 23 mi (38 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Hotel Road End, right by the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Hostel: Inchnadamph Lodge 0.2 mi (0.3 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 Ben More Assynt
- In Gaelic
- Beinn Mhòr Asainn
- Means
- Big mountain of Assynt
Ben More Assynt lies in the east of Assynt, about 19 miles north-north-east of Ullapool, set apart from the area's better-known but lower hills such as Suilven. From the A837 it is hidden behind Conival, 0.9 miles to the west, and the two are linked by a high ridge with a low point of 2,890 ft (880 m). The South Top lies about two-thirds of a mile to the south.
The hill sits on the Ben More thrust sheet in the Moine Thrust Belt, a classic area in the study of thrust tectonics. The summit is Cambrian quartzite, while the Lewisian gneiss of the ridge to the South Top is the highest example of that rock anywhere. Over 34 square miles around it are a Site of Special Scientific Interest, home to many threatened plants.
In 2012 an RAF Chinook carried a 600 kg granite marker up to replace the weathered cairn over the 1941 crash graves. The hill rises 2,743 ft (836 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, and the summit is a quartzite outcrop.
Tops on Ben More Assynt
One lower summit in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Ben More Assynt South TopNC 324 192 | 3,150 ft (960 m) | 0.6 mi (1.0 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Ben More Assynt 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Conival | 3,238 ft (987 m) | 0.9 mi (1.5 km) |
| Ben Klibreck - Meall nan Con | 3,156 ft (962 m) | 18 mi (28 km) |
| Seana Bhraigh | 3,038 ft (926 m) | 20 mi (32 km) |
Common questions about Ben More Assynt
- How high is Ben More Assynt?
- Ben More Assynt is 3,274 ft (998 m), number 144 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Northwest Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Ben More Assynt?
- About 3 h 30 min up and 1 h 55 min back down by our route from Car park near Inchnadamph, before stops: 5.5 mi (8.9 km) each way with 3,346 ft (1,020 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Ben More Assynt?
- Our route starts at Car park near Inchnadamph. It is free to park.
- Can you climb Ben More Assynt without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Lairg, 23 mi (38 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Hotel Road End, 0.2 mi (0.4 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Ben More Assynt a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 3,346 ft (1,020 m) of ascent over 5.5 mi (8.9 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 More Assynt mean?
- In Gaelic it is Beinn Mhòr Asainn. It is usually translated as "big mountain of Assynt".
- When is the best time to climb Ben More Assynt?
- Daylight runs from about 18 hours in mid June to 6 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.
- Goes over Conival on the way.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T20:06:42.489Z. Start: the public car park nearest the usual start named on Wikipedia (Inchnadamph, found by grid reference NC250218) 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 30 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 More Assynt is hill 1183 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.