Number 58 of 282 by height · Southeastern Highlands
Schiehallion
Sìdh Chailleann
3,553 ft (1,083 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 713 547
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.66694, -4.10023
- Area
- Southeastern Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 3.2 mi (5.2 km)
- Climb
- 2,375 ft (724 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 15 min
- Start
- Braes of Foss Car Park
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Partly cloudy
- Temperature
- 37°F (3°C)
- Wind chill
- 32°F (0°C)
- Wind
- 6 mph (10 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 69%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,865 ft (1,483 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:24, 16:35
The way up
From Braes of Foss Car Park, follow the path south-west for 0.9 mi, climbing steadily from 1,100 ft to 1,550 ft. On the way you cross the Allt an t-Socaich. It then turns west for the last 2.2 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 1,550 ft to 3,550 ft. The steepest part is between 2,150 ft and 2,850 ft, about 1.4 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,553 ft (1,083 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
Braes of Foss Car Park. Pay to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Schiehallion car park56.67634,-4.03644
By train
Nearest station: Blair Atholl, 9.4 mi (15 km) from the car park.
By bus
No bus stop on the map within 5 miles of the car park. The nearest is Kinloch Rannoch, B846 at the Square, 6.0 mi (9.6 km) away. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Toilets by the start
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 Schiehallion
- In Gaelic
- Sìdh Chailleann
- Means
- Fairy hill of the Caledonians
- Say it
- shee-HAL-yan
Schiehallion is a cone-shaped hill standing on its own in Breadalbane, Perthshire, between Loch Tay, Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel, about 10 miles west-north-west of Aberfeldy. From the west it looks almost perfectly conical, and it lies only about 3 miles from the geographic centre of mainland Scotland. It is mostly quartzite. The shape that leads people to mistake it for an old volcano was in fact carved by ice. It rises 2,349 ft (716 m) above the col that links it to higher ground.
The astronomer Charles Mason was first asked to run the 1774 experiment to weigh the Earth here, but he turned it down and Nevil Maskelyne led it instead. People farmed its slopes from the first millennium BC until about two centuries ago, and the John Muir Trust has owned the east side since 1999. Heather, blaeberry and lingonberry cover the slopes, and limestone pavement supports wood anemone and lily of the valley.
The true summit is a rock about 20 m north-west of the cairn, 15 cm higher than the rock under the cairn itself.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Schiehallion 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Carn Mairg | 3,419 ft (1,042 m) | 2.8 mi (4.5 km) |
| Meall na Aighean | 3,219 ft (981 m) | 3.4 mi (5.4 km) |
| Meall Garbh | 3,176 ft (968 m) | 4.6 mi (7.3 km) |
Common questions about Schiehallion
- How high is Schiehallion?
- Schiehallion is 3,553 ft (1,083 m), number 58 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Southeastern Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Schiehallion?
- About 2 h 15 min up and 1 h 5 min back down by our route from Braes of Foss Car Park, before stops: 3.2 mi (5.2 km) each way with 2,375 ft (724 m) of climbing. That is one of the quicker Munros to climb. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Schiehallion?
- Our route starts at Braes of Foss Car Park. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Schiehallion without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Blair Atholl, 9.4 mi (15 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Schiehallion a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the quicker Munros to climb, with 2,375 ft (724 m) of ascent over 3.2 mi (5.2 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 Schiehallion mean?
- In Gaelic it is Sìdh Chailleann. It is usually translated as "fairy hill of the Caledonians".
- When is the best time to climb Schiehallion?
- 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. The start and the line were chosen by hand from the usual way up. A line on a map is not a description of the ground.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T16:43:26.103Z, 11 OSM ways routed with Dijkstra (shortest distance; trunk/primary/secondary roads penalised so they are used only where no path exists).
- Elevation: Copernicus DEM GLO-90 via the Open-Meteo Elevation API, sampled every 50 m, smoothed with a 5-sample rolling median; ascent/descent summed with a 5 m hysteresis band; the 90 m DEM also rounds off summits, so maxElevM can sit below the surveyed height.
- Summit position: Database of British and Irish Hills v18 (CC BY 4.0).
Built 2026-10-24.
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. Schiehallion is hill 103 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.