Number 102 of 282 by height · Southeastern Highlands
Carn Gorm
Càrn Gorm
3,376 ft (1,029 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 635 500
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.62255, -4.22602
- Area
- Southeastern Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 2.8 mi (4.5 km)
- Climb
- 2,684 ft (818 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 15 min
- Start
- Car park near Invervar
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 21:21. Not live.
- Weather
- Clear sky
- Temperature
- 30°F (−1°C)
- Wind
- 3 mph (5 km/h) from the west
- Cloud cover
- 1%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 2,871 ft (875 m), below the summit
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:25, 16:35
The way up
From the car park near Invervar, follow the path north-west for 0.3 mi, climbing steeply from 680 ft to 950 ft. Then follow the track north-west for 0.6 mi, climbing steadily from 950 ft to 1,350 ft. On the way you cross the Allt Coire a'Chearcaill. Then follow the path west for the last 1.7 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 1,350 ft to 3,400 ft. On the way you cross the Invervar Burn. The steepest part is between 2,550 ft and 3,300 ft, about 2.1 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,376 ft (1,029 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 Invervar. Pay to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Carn Gorm car park56.60677,-4.17459
By train
Nearest station: Rannoch, 16 mi (26 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
No bus stop on the map within 5 miles of the car park. The nearest is Lawers, Hotel, 5.4 mi (8.7 km) away. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Public transport directionsBus and train times on Traveline Scotland
About Carn Gorm
- In Gaelic
- Càrn Gorm
- Means
- Blue hill
Carn Gorm stands on the north side of Glen Lyon in Perthshire, one of four Munros in the Carn Mairg group, also called the Glen Lyon Horseshoe, which curves around the Invervar Burn. It is mostly grassy with scattered outcrops, and four ridges meet at its neat summit cone. The longest runs north-west for about 5 miles to Loch Rannoch, its lower slopes in the old Black Wood of Rannoch. The short south ridge is steep and craggy, and the north ridge crosses An Sgorr, 3,031 ft (924 m), before dropping to the col below Meall Garbh.
The eastern side lies in the Carn Gorm and Meall Garbh SSSI, an area of undisturbed sub-alpine habitat with rare plants.
Carn Gorm rises 618 ft (189 m) above the col linking it to higher ground. The true summit is an outcrop a few metres east of the cairn. About 80 m north-west, a toppled trig point lies inside a wind shelter. The best views are south, over Glen Lyon to the Ben Lawers range.
Tops on Carn Gorm
One lower summit in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| An SgorrNN 640 509 | 3,031 ft (924 m) | 0.6 mi (1.0 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Carn 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Meall Garbh | 3,176 ft (968 m) | 1.2 mi (2.0 km) |
| Carn Mairg | 3,419 ft (1,042 m) | 3.2 mi (5.1 km) |
| Meall na Aighean | 3,219 ft (981 m) | 3.7 mi (6.0 km) |
Part of a bigger day: 4 Munros in one go, Meall Garbh, Carn Mairg, Meall na Aighean.
Common questions about Carn Gorm
- How high is Carn Gorm?
- Carn Gorm is 3,376 ft (1,029 m), number 102 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Southeastern Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Carn Gorm?
- About 2 h 15 min up and 55 min back down by our route from the car park near Invervar, before stops: 2.8 mi (4.5 km) each way with 2,684 ft (818 m) of climbing. That is one of the quicker Munros to climb. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Carn Gorm?
- Our route starts at the car park near Invervar. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Carn Gorm without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Rannoch, 16 mi (26 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Carn Gorm a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the quicker Munros to climb, with 2,684 ft (818 m) of ascent over 2.8 mi (4.5 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.
- Can you climb other Munros with Carn Gorm?
- Yes. Carn Gorm can be linked with Meall Garbh, Carn Mairg, Meall na Aighean along the ridge, for 4 Munros in one long day. See Big days for the full plan.
- What does Carn Gorm mean?
- In Gaelic it is Càrn Gorm. It is usually translated as "blue hill".
- When is the best time to climb Carn 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 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 2026-10-24T19:57:04.412Z. Start: the public car park nearest the usual start named on Wikipedia (Invervar, found by grid reference NN665482) 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 15 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. Carn Gorm is hill 109 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.