Number 278 of 282 by height · Northwest Highlands
Meall na Teanga
3,008 ft (917 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 220 924
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.98903, -4.93096
- Area
- Northwest Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 5.5 mi (8.8 km)
- Climb
- 2,966 ft (904 m)
- Estimated time up
- 3 h 15 min
- Start
- Car park near South Laggan
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Fair
- Temperature
- 37°F (3°C)
- Wind chill
- 35°F (1°C)
- Wind
- 4 mph (6 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 26%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,521 ft (1,378 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:29, 16:37
The way up
From Car park near South Laggan, follow the road south-west for 1.1 mi, almost level. On the way you pass Loch Lochy on your left and cross the Kilfinnan Burn. Then follow the track south-west for 1.6 mi, almost level. Then follow the path west for 1.7 mi, climbing steeply from 400 ft to 1,950 ft. It then turns south for the last 1.0 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 1,950 ft to 3,000 ft. The steepest part is between 2,250 ft and 2,950 ft, about 4.8 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,008 ft (917 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 South Laggan. Parking charge not known. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Meall na Teanga car park57.02653,-4.83053
By train
Nearest station: Roy Bridge, 9.6 mi (15 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Laggan Locks, 0.3 mi (0.5 km) from the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Toilets 0.2 mi (0.3 km)
- Café: Laggan Locks Take Away 0.2 mi (0.3 km)
- Campsite: Laggan Locks informal campsite 0.2 mi (0.3 km)
- Place to eat: Eagle Barge Inn 0.2 mi (0.4 km)
- Place to eat: The Farmhouse kitchen 0.8 mi (1.3 km)
- Hostel: Great Glen Hostel 0.8 mi (1.3 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 na Teanga
- Means
- Hill of the tongue
Meall na Teanga stands on the north side of Loch Lochy, about 7 miles north of Spean Bridge, and is closely tied to Sron a' Choire Ghairbh across the Cam Bealach. Seen from the A82 across the loch, it shows steep slopes. It was listed as a top of Sron a' Choire Ghairbh in 1891, and became a Munro in 1921 despite doubts about its height.
It has a set of short ridges and one longer one, with three fine corries. The western ridge runs over a mile along the rims of Coire Odhar Mor and Coire Odhar Beag, both steep and craggy, before dropping to the head of Gleann Cia-aig. The north-east ridge crosses Meall Dubh on its way to the Cam Bealach.
The hill rises 1,002 ft (306 m) above the col linking it to higher ground. The true summit is a rock, with a small mound 15 m south just as high. Views reach across the Great Glen to the Grey Corries, the Aonachs and Ben Nevis.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Meall na Teanga 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sron a' Choire Ghairbh | 3,074 ft (937 m) | 1.3 mi (2.1 km) |
| Beinn Teallach | 3,001 ft (915 m) | 9.6 mi (15 km) |
| Beinn a' Chaorainn | 3,442 ft (1,049 m) | 11 mi (18 km) |
Common questions about Meall na Teanga
- How high is Meall na Teanga?
- Meall na Teanga is 3,008 ft (917 m), number 278 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Northwest Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Meall na Teanga?
- About 3 h 15 min up and 1 h 50 min back down by our route from Car park near South Laggan, before stops: 5.5 mi (8.8 km) each way with 2,966 ft (904 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Meall na Teanga?
- Our route starts at Car park near South Laggan.
- Can you climb Meall na Teanga without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Roy Bridge, 9.6 mi (15 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Laggan Locks, 0.3 mi (0.5 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Meall na Teanga a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 2,966 ft (904 m) of ascent over 5.5 mi (8.8 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 Meall na Teanga mean?
- It is usually translated as "hill of the tongue".
- When is the best time to climb Meall na Teanga?
- 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.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T19:57:37.957Z. Start: the public car park nearest the usual start named on Wikipedia (Laggan Locks, found by grid reference NN287963) 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 3 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. Meall na Teanga is hill 759 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.