Number 221 of 282 by height · Northwest Highlands
Meall Buidhe
3,104 ft (946 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NM 848 989
- Latitude, longitude
- 57.03158, -5.54635
- Area
- Northwest Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 13 mi (20 km)
- Climb
- 5,400 ft (1,646 m)
- Estimated time up
- 6 h 50 min
- Start
- Car park near Kinloch Hourn
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
- 32°F (0°C)
- Wind
- 4 mph (6 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 10%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 3,862 ft (1,177 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:31, 16:39
The way up
From Car park near Kinloch Hourn, follow the road north-west for 0.3 mi, almost level. Then follow the path west for 4.9 mi, almost level. On the way you cross the Allt Coire Mhicrall and the Allt a'Chanuis Bhdin. Then follow the track south for 3.1 mi, climbing steadily from 10 ft to 1,450 ft. On the way you pass Barisdale Bothy and cross the River Barrisdale and a bridge. Then follow the path south-east for 1.4 mi, climbing steeply from 1,450 ft to 3,000 ft. On the way you reach the bealach of Màm Barrisdale, go over Bachd Mhic an Tosaich (2,150 ft) and go over Luinne Bheinn (3,100 ft). It then turns south for 1.0 mi, dropping from 3,000 ft to 2,550 ft. On the way you reach the bealach of Bealach a' Choire Odhair, pass Loch Coire na Gaoithe 'n Ear on your left and go over Meall Choire na Gaoithe an Ear (2,550 ft). It then turns west for the last 1.4 mi to the summit, climbing gently from 2,550 ft to 3,100 ft. On the way you reach the bealach of Bealach Ile Coire. The steepest part is between 2,150 ft and 3,050 ft, about 9.1 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,104 ft (946 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 Kinloch Hourn. Pay to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Meall Buidhe car park57.10524,-5.38904
By train
Nearest station: Glenfinnan, 16 mi (26 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Kinlochourn, right by the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Café: Kinlochhourn Farm 0.1 mi (0.2 km)
- Campsite: Kinloch Hourn Estate Camping Area 0.3 mi (0.5 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 Meall Buidhe
This Meall Buidhe is a rocky hill on the Knoydart peninsula in Lochaber, with Inverie the nearest village. It rises 1,631 ft (497 m) above the col linking it to higher ground. Luinne Bheinn, 1.7 miles away, is its closest neighbour, and Ladhar Bheinn, 3.5 miles off, is the nearest higher hill.
Its subsidiary top is Meall Buidhe SE Top. The true summit is a rock about 3 m south-west of the cairn, roughly 40 cm higher than the cairn's base.
Tops on Meall Buidhe
One lower summit in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Meall Buidhe SE TopNM 852 987 | 3,091 ft (942 m) | 0.3 mi (0.4 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Meall Buidhe 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Luinne Bheinn | 3,081 ft (939 m) | 1.7 mi (2.7 km) |
| Ladhar Bheinn | 3,346 ft (1,020 m) | 3.5 mi (5.6 km) |
| Sgurr na Ciche | 3,413 ft (1,040 m) | 3.6 mi (5.8 km) |
Common questions about Meall Buidhe
- How high is Meall Buidhe?
- Meall Buidhe is 3,104 ft (946 m), number 221 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Northwest Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Meall Buidhe?
- About 6 h 50 min up and 5 h 15 min back down by our route from Car park near Kinloch Hourn, before stops: 13 mi (20 km) each way with 5,400 ft (1,646 m) of climbing. That is one of the longer Munro days. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Meall Buidhe?
- Our route starts at Car park near Kinloch Hourn. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Meall Buidhe without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Glenfinnan, 16 mi (26 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Kinlochourn, 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 Meall Buidhe a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the longer Munro days, with 5,400 ft (1,646 m) of ascent over 13 mi (20 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.
- When is the best time to climb Meall Buidhe?
- 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.
- Drops 2,330 ft on the way up, so it may cross another top or a bealach first.
- Long walk-in: 12.6 mi one way.
- Goes over Luinne Bheinn on the way.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T20:03:25.525Z. 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 6 h 50 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. Meall Buidhe is hill 737 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.