Number 66 of 282 by height · Southeastern Highlands
Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo)
Bràigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain
3,510 ft (1,070 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 945 724
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.83110, -3.72950
- Area
- Southeastern Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 5.6 mi (9.1 km)
- Climb
- 2,411 ft (735 m)
- Estimated time up
- 3 h
- Start
- Car park near Monzie
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Clear sky
- Temperature
- 35°F (2°C)
- Wind chill
- 28°F (−2°C)
- Wind
- 8 mph (13 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 6%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,268 ft (1,301 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:23, 16:33
Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo) weather: the forecast page
The way up
From Car park near Monzie, follow the track east for 2.2 mi, almost level. On the way you pass Loch Moraig on your right. Then follow the path north-east for 0.8 mi, climbing gently from 1,450 ft to 1,600 ft. It then turns north for 1.6 mi, climbing steadily from 1,600 ft to 2,500 ft. On the way you cross the Allt Coire na Saobhaidh. It then turns north-east for the last 0.9 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 2,500 ft to 3,500 ft. The steepest part is between 2,500 ft and 3,200 ft, about 4.7 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,510 ft (1,070 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 Monzie. Pay to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo) car park56.78255,-3.79312
By train
Nearest station: Blair Atholl, 2.5 mi (3.9 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Killiecrankie, 2.7 mi (4.3 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 Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo)
- In Gaelic
- Bràigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain
- Means
- Brae of the corrie of round blisters
- Say it
- pry kor-yuh CHROOIN-va-la-ken
Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain is one of the three Munros of Beinn a' Ghlo, a huge, complex hill of ridges, summits and corries covering about 15 square miles between Glen Tilt and Glen Loch, roughly 6 miles north-east of Blair Atholl in the Cairngorms National Park.
Beinn a' Ghlo is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation for its plants, which include the rare yellow oxytropis, mountain avens, rock speedwell, rock sedge and green spleenwort. From the A9 only Carn Liath shows, with the rest of the massif hidden behind. Queen Victoria admired the view of it on a drive up Glen Tilt in 1844, and in May 1993 an RAF Hercules crashed on the mountain during low-level training, killing all nine on board.
This summit rises 730 ft (222 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, with Carn nan Gabhar and Carn Liath each 1.7 miles away. The true summit is a flat rock about 7 m south of the cairn.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo) 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Carn nan Gabhar (Beinn a' Ghlo) | 3,681 ft (1,122 m) | 1.7 mi (2.7 km) |
| Carn Liath (Beinn a' Ghlo) | 3,202 ft (976 m) | 1.7 mi (2.7 km) |
| Carn a' Chlamain | 3,161 ft (964 m) | 2.8 mi (4.5 km) |
Common questions about Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo)
- How high is Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo)?
- Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo) is 3,510 ft (1,070 m), number 66 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Southeastern Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo)?
- About 3 h up and 1 h 50 min back down by our route from Car park near Monzie, before stops: 5.6 mi (9.1 km) each way with 2,411 ft (735 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo)?
- Our route starts at Car park near Monzie. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo) without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Blair Atholl, 2.5 mi (3.9 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Killiecrankie, 2.7 mi (4.3 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo) a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 2,411 ft (735 m) of ascent over 5.6 mi (9.1 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 Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo) mean?
- In Gaelic it is Bràigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain. It is usually translated as "brae of the corrie of round blisters".
- When is the best time to climb Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo)?
- 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 2026-10-24T19:58:18.650Z. 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 3 h, 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. Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (Beinn a' Ghlo) is hill 422 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.