Number 235 of 282 by height · Southeastern Highlands
Mount Keen
Monadh Caoin
3,081 ft (939 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NO 409 869
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.96977, -2.97362
- Area
- Southeastern Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 5.5 mi (8.8 km)
- Climb
- 2,201 ft (671 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 55 min
- Start
- Invermark
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 20:25. Not live.
- Weather
- Fair
- Temperature
- 34°F (1°C)
- Wind chill
- 27°F (−3°C)
- Wind
- 9 mph (14 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 20%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 3,586 ft (1,093 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:21, 16:29
The way up
From Invermark, follow the track north-west for 2.3 mi, almost level. On the way you cross the Burn of Branny and the Burn of Glascorrie. Then follow the path north-west for 1300 ft, almost level. Then follow the track north-west for 1.8 mi, climbing steadily from 1,000 ft to 2,200 ft. On the way you cross the Easter Burn and the Ladder Burn. Then follow the path north for the last 1.1 mi to the summit, climbing steadily from 2,200 ft to 3,100 ft. The steepest part is between 2,550 ft and 3,050 ft, about 4.8 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,081 ft (939 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
Invermark. Free to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Mount Keen car park56.91128,-2.91049
By train
Nearest station: Laurencekirk, 18 mi (28 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Tarfside, 2.9 mi (4.7 km) from the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Public transport directionsBus and train times on Traveline Scotland
About Mount Keen
- In Gaelic
- Monadh Caoin
Mount Keen is the most easterly Munro, standing on the border of Aberdeenshire and Angus between Glen Mark to the south and Glen Tanar to the north. It stands well apart from other high ground: the nearest higher Munro, Lochnagar, is over 10 miles away, and Mount Keen rises 1,024 ft (312 m) above the col linking it to higher ground.
The ground drops steeply to the east of the summit, which matters in icy conditions, and some large boulders give a little shelter. On a clear day the view reaches the Cairngorms, especially Lochnagar. The trig point is not quite the top: the true summit is a rock about a metre south of it.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Mount Keen 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cac Carn Beag (Lochnagar) | 3,792 ft (1,156 m) | 10 mi (17 km) |
| Broad Cairn | 3,274 ft (998 m) | 11 mi (18 km) |
| Carn a' Choire Bhoidheach | 3,641 ft (1,110 m) | 11 mi (18 km) |
Common questions about Mount Keen
- How high is Mount Keen?
- Mount Keen is 3,081 ft (939 m), number 235 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Southeastern Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Mount Keen?
- About 2 h 55 min up and 1 h 45 min back down by our route from Invermark, before stops: 5.5 mi (8.8 km) each way with 2,201 ft (671 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Mount Keen?
- Our route starts at Invermark. It is free to park.
- Can you climb Mount Keen without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Laurencekirk, 18 mi (28 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Tarfside, 2.9 mi (4.7 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Mount Keen a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 2,201 ft (671 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.
- When is the best time to climb Mount Keen?
- 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 2026-10-24T19:59:21.260Z. 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 2 h 55 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. Mount Keen is hill 485 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.