Number 6 of 282 by height · Cairngorms and Monadhliath
Cairn Gorm
An Càrn Gorm
4,084 ft (1,245 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NJ 005 040
- Latitude, longitude
- 57.11672, -3.64448
- Area
- Cairngorms and Monadhliath
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 2.2 mi (3.6 km)
- Climb
- 1,998 ft (609 m)
- Estimated time up
- 1 h 45 min
- Start
- Coire Cas Car Park
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 21:21. Not live.
- Weather
- Cloudy
- Temperature
- 30°F (−1°C)
- Wind chill
- 25°F (−4°C)
- Wind
- 5 mph (8 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 87%
- 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 1.6 mi, climbing steeply from 2,050 ft to 3,550 ft. It then turns south for the last 0.6 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 3,550 ft to 4,100 ft. The steepest part is between 2,300 ft and 3,050 ft, about 0.4 mi from the start. The summit is at 4,084 ft (1,245 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 Cairn Gorm 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 Cairn Gorm
- In Gaelic
- An Càrn Gorm
- Means
- Blue or green cairn
Cairn Gorm is the sixth-highest mountain in the British Isles and gives its name to the whole Cairngorms range, although Ben Macdui, 3.3 miles away, is higher. Its broad, domed summit overlooks Strathspey and is one of the easiest hills to pick out from Aviemore. To the north lie Coire Cas and Coire na Ciste, home to the ski area since the 1960s Coire an t-Sneachda and Coire an Lochain hold cliffs that become one of Scotland's main ice-climbing grounds in winter. The southern slopes drop to remote Loch Avon.
The Cairngorm Mountain Railway, a funicular opened in 2001 after years of controversy over cost and conservation, climbs Coire Cas to the Ptarmigan station, the highest train terminal in the British Isles. On the plateau in November 1971, five pupils from an Edinburgh school and a trainee instructor died in a blizzard, still the UK's worst mountaineering disaster.
The hill is a stronghold for dotterel, snow bunting and ptarmigan, and a herd of reindeer lives on it. The true summit is a rock at the base of the large cairn.
Tops on Cairn Gorm
4 lower summits in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Cairn LochanNH 985 025 | 3,990 ft (1,216 m) | 1.6 mi (2.5 km) |
| Stob Coire an t-SneachdaNH 996 029 | 3,858 ft (1,176 m) | 0.9 mi (1.4 km) |
| Cnap Coire na SpreidheNJ 013 049 | 3,773 ft (1,150 m) | 0.7 mi (1.2 km) |
| Creag an Leth-choin [Lurcher's Crag]NH 968 033 | 3,455 ft (1,053 m) | 2.3 mi (3.7 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Cairn Gorm 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 Mheadhoin | 3,881 ft (1,183 m) | 1.9 mi (3.1 km) |
| Bynack More | 3,576 ft (1,090 m) | 2.7 mi (4.3 km) |
| Beinn a' Chaorainn | 3,553 ft (1,083 m) | 3.0 mi (4.8 km) |
Common questions about Cairn Gorm
- How high is Cairn Gorm?
- Cairn Gorm is 4,084 ft (1,245 m), number 6 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Cairngorms and Monadhliath.
- How long does it take to climb Cairn Gorm?
- About 1 h 45 min up and 45 min back down by our route from Coire Cas Car Park, before stops: 2.2 mi (3.6 km) each way with 1,998 ft (609 m) of climbing. That is one of the quicker Munros to climb. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Cairn Gorm?
- Our route starts at Coire Cas Car Park. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Cairn Gorm 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 Cairn Gorm a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the quicker Munros to climb, with 1,998 ft (609 m) of ascent over 2.2 mi (3.6 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 Cairn Gorm mean?
- In Gaelic it is An Càrn Gorm. It is usually translated as "blue or green cairn".
- When is the best time to climb Cairn Gorm?
- 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. The start and the line were chosen by hand from the usual way up. A line on a map is not a description of the ground.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T16:45:07.394Z, 5 OSM ways routed with Dijkstra (shortest distance; trunk/primary/secondary roads penalised so they are used only where no path exists).
- Elevation: Copernicus DEM GLO-90 via the Open-Meteo Elevation API, sampled every 50 m, smoothed with a 5-sample rolling median; ascent/descent summed with a 5 m hysteresis band; the 90 m DEM also rounds off summits, so maxElevM can sit below the surveyed height.
- Summit position: Database of British and Irish Hills v18 (CC BY 4.0).
Built 2026-10-24.
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 1 h 45 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. Cairn Gorm is hill 525 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.