Number 252 of 282 by height · Northwest Highlands
Blabheinn
Blà Bheinn
Also written Bla Bheinn
3,048 ft (929 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NG 529 217
- Latitude, longitude
- 57.21959, -6.09323
- Area
- Northwest Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 3.1 mi (5.0 km)
- Climb
- 3,005 ft (916 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 30 min
- Start
- Car park near Torrin
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Fair
- Temperature
- 36°F (2°C)
- Wind chill
- 31°F (−1°C)
- Wind
- 7 mph (11 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 21%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,209 ft (1,283 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:34, 16:41
The way up
From Car park near Torrin, follow the road south-west for 0.7 mi, almost level. On the way you cross the Abhainn an t-Sratha Mhòir by a bridge. Then follow the path west for 1.6 mi, climbing steeply from 30 ft to 1,400 ft. On the way you cross the Allt na Dunaiche. It then turns north-west for the last 0.7 mi to the summit, climbing very steeply from 1,400 ft to 3,050 ft. On the way you pass Loch Fionna-choire on your left. The steepest part is between 1,450 ft and 2,900 ft, about 2.4 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,048 ft (929 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 Torrin. Free to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Blabheinn car park57.22726,-6.03536
By train
Nearest station: Kyle of Lochalsh, 13 mi (20 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Torrin, opp Blaven Bunkhouse, 0.9 mi (1.5 km) from the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Toilets: Public Toilet 0.6 mi (0.9 km)
- Café: Amy's Place Tea Room 1.1 mi (1.7 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 Blabheinn
- In Gaelic
- Blà Bheinn
- Means
- Blue mountain
Blabheinn, also known as Blaven, stands on the Isle of Skye and is usually regarded as an outlier of the Black Cuillin. North of the summit the ridge of Clach Glas leads on to Garbh-bheinn, 2,651 ft (808 m), and Sgurr nan Each, 2,362 ft (720 m), linking towards the Red Cuillin. Unlike most of the Red Cuillin around it, it is built of gabbro. The rock is part of the deeply eroded root of a volcano that was active around 60 million years ago, as the North Atlantic opened, and glaciers later carved the steep corries and U-shaped valleys around it.
It rises 2,818 ft (859 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, and its nearest higher Munro, Sgurr nan Gillean, is 4.2 miles away. The hill stands in the Strathaird Estate, owned by the John Muir Trust since 1994. The true summit is a boulder by a cairn about 5 m west of the trig point, and Blabheinn South Top is listed as a subsidiary Top.
Tops on Blabheinn
One lower summit in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Blabheinn South TopNG 528 215 | 3,040 ft (927 m) | 0.2 mi (0.3 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Blabheinn 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sgurr nan Gillean | 3,170 ft (966 m) | 4.2 mi (6.8 km) |
| Sgurr Dubh Mor | 3,097 ft (944 m) | 4.5 mi (7.3 km) |
| Am Basteir | 3,064 ft (934 m) | 4.5 mi (7.3 km) |
Common questions about Blabheinn
- How high is Blabheinn?
- Blabheinn is 3,048 ft (929 m), number 252 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Northwest Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Blabheinn?
- About 2 h 30 min up and 1 h back down by our route from Car park near Torrin, before stops: 3.1 mi (5.0 km) each way with 3,005 ft (916 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Blabheinn?
- Our route starts at Car park near Torrin. It is free to park.
- Can you climb Blabheinn without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Kyle of Lochalsh, 13 mi (20 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Torrin, opp Blaven Bunkhouse, 0.9 mi (1.5 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Blabheinn a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 3,005 ft (916 m) of ascent over 3.1 mi (5.0 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 Blabheinn mean?
- In Gaelic it is Blà Bheinn. It is usually translated as "blue mountain".
- When is the best time to climb Blabheinn?
- 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.
- Walks 0.7 mi along a main road before the path starts.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T20:07:29.136Z. 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 2 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. Blabheinn is hill 1255 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.