Number 70 of 282 by height · Southeastern Highlands
Glas Maol
A' Ghlas-Mheall
3,504 ft (1,068 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NO 166 765
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.87308, -3.36824
- Area
- Southeastern Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 2.1 mi (3.4 km)
- Climb
- 1,371 ft (418 m)
- Estimated time up
- 1 h 25 min
- Start
- Glenshee Ski Centre Large Car Park
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 20:25. Not live.
- Weather
- Fair
- Temperature
- 32°F (0°C)
- Wind chill
- 26°F (−3°C)
- Wind
- 6 mph (9 km/h) from the north
- Cloud cover
- 27%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 3,455 ft (1,053 m), below the summit
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:22, 16:31
The way up
From Glenshee Ski Centre Large Car Park, follow the track east for 1.0 mi, climbing steadily from 2,150 ft to 2,750 ft. On the way you reach the bealach of Cairnwell Pass. Then follow the path south-east for the last 1.0 mi to the summit, climbing steadily from 2,750 ft to 3,500 ft. On the way you go over Meall Odhar (3,000 ft). The steepest part is between 2,900 ft and 3,450 ft, about 1.2 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,504 ft (1,068 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
Glenshee Ski Centre Large Car Park. Pay to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Glas Maol car park56.88313,-3.41172
By train
Nearest station: Pitlochry, 17 mi (28 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Glenshee Ski Centre, 0.3 mi (0.4 km) from the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Café: Tea @ The Shee 0.3 mi (0.4 km)
- Toilets 0.3 mi (0.5 km)
- Café: Cairnwell Cafe 0.5 mi (0.7 km)
- Toilets 0.5 mi (0.9 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 Glas Maol
- In Gaelic
- A' Ghlas-Mheall
Glas Maol is a broad, flat-topped hill in the Mounth, in the south-east Highlands. Its summit plateau is shared between Aberdeenshire, Angus and Perth and Kinross, but the highest point lies wholly in Angus. Its western slopes form part of the Glenshee ski area.
The broad ridges to Creag Leacach in the south and Cairn of Claise in the north carry a dry-stone dyke that roughly follows the Angus boundary. Glas Maol rises 640 ft (195 m) above the col linking it to higher ground, and the nearest higher Munro, Carn a' Choire Bhoidheach, is over 6 miles away. Its tops are Little Glas Maol and Meall Odhar.
A trig point marks the summit, though the ground for about 20 m north and south of it is roughly the same height.
Tops on Glas Maol
2 lower summits in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Little Glas MaolNO 175 759 | 3,192 ft (973 m) | 0.7 mi (1.1 km) |
| Meall OdharNO 155 773 | 3,025 ft (922 m) | 0.8 mi (1.3 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Glas Maol 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Creag Leacach | 3,242 ft (988 m) | 1.5 mi (2.4 km) |
| Cairn of Claise | 3,491 ft (1,064 m) | 1.8 mi (3.0 km) |
| The Cairnwell | 3,061 ft (933 m) | 2.0 mi (3.3 km) |
Part of a bigger day: 8 Munros in one go, Cairn of Claise, Tolmount, Carn an t-Sagairt Mor, Carn a' Choire Bhoidheach, Cairn Bannoch, Tom Buidhe, Carn an Tuirc.
Common questions about Glas Maol
- How high is Glas Maol?
- Glas Maol is 3,504 ft (1,068 m), number 70 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Southeastern Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Glas Maol?
- About 1 h 25 min up and 45 min back down by our route from Glenshee Ski Centre Large Car Park, before stops: 2.1 mi (3.4 km) each way with 1,371 ft (418 m) of climbing. That is one of the quicker Munros to climb. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Glas Maol?
- Our route starts at Glenshee Ski Centre Large Car Park. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Glas Maol without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Pitlochry, 17 mi (28 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Glenshee Ski Centre, 0.3 mi (0.4 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Glas Maol a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the quicker Munros to climb, with 1,371 ft (418 m) of ascent over 2.1 mi (3.4 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 Glas Maol?
- Yes. Glas Maol can be linked with Cairn of Claise, Tolmount, Carn an t-Sagairt Mor, Carn a' Choire Bhoidheach, Cairn Bannoch, Tom Buidhe, Carn an Tuirc along the ridge, for 8 Munros in one long day. See Big days for the full plan.
- When is the best time to climb Glas Maol?
- 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.
- Walks 0.2 mi along a main road before the path starts.
- 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 1 h 25 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. Glas Maol is hill 461 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.