Number 155 of 282 by height · Southeastern Highlands
Sgairneach Mhor
Sgairneach Mhòr
3,251 ft (991 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 598 731
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.82846, -4.29779
- Area
- Southeastern Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 3.6 mi (5.7 km)
- Climb
- 1,870 ft (570 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 5 min
- Start
- Layby 79
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Clear sky
- Temperature
- 37°F (3°C)
- Wind chill
- 33°F (0°C)
- Wind
- 6 mph (10 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 8%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,767 ft (1,453 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:26, 16:35
The way up
From Layby 79, follow the road south for 1250 ft, almost level. Then follow the track west for 1.2 mi, almost level. Then follow the path south-west for the last 2.0 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 1,600 ft to 3,250 ft. On the way you cross the e Dhomhain by a bridge. The steepest part is between 2,550 ft and 3,100 ft, about 2.6 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,251 ft (991 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
Layby 79. Free to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Sgairneach Mhor car park56.85135,-4.24430
By train
Nearest station: Dalwhinnie, 5.8 mi (9.3 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: North Drumochter Lodge, 2.6 mi (4.1 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 Sgairneach Mhor
- In Gaelic
- Sgairneach Mhòr
- Means
- Big rocky hillside
Sgairneach Mhòr is one of the seven Drumochter hills, sometimes called the A9 Munros, about 8 miles south-south-west of Dalwhinnie and 2.5 miles east of Loch Ericht. It is the only hill in the group with much stony ground, which makes it the most eye-catching from the pass. Ridges run north and east from the summit to enclose the rocky Coire Creagach, while broad southern slopes carry the lesser tops of Màm Bàn and Meallan Buidhe. The east ridge, narrow at first round the corrie rim, leads towards the Corbett called The Sow of Atholl, and the western slopes fall to the col for Beinn Udlamain, the nearest higher Munro, 1.3 miles away.
The summit is a plateau running south-west to north-east. A mound at the north-east end is the top, and a trig point about 20 m east sits 20 cm lower. The 1891 Tables placed the summit at a cairn about a third of a mile south-west, an error fixed in 1921 but repeated by oversight in the 1974 edition.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Sgairneach Mhor 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Beinn Udlamain | 3,314 ft (1,010 m) | 1.3 mi (2.1 km) |
| A' Mharconaich | 3,193 ft (973 m) | 2.0 mi (3.2 km) |
| Geal-charn | 3,009 ft (917 m) | 3.2 mi (5.1 km) |
Common questions about Sgairneach Mhor
- How high is Sgairneach Mhor?
- Sgairneach Mhor is 3,251 ft (991 m), number 155 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Southeastern Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Sgairneach Mhor?
- About 2 h 5 min up and 1 h 15 min back down by our route from Layby 79, before stops: 3.6 mi (5.7 km) each way with 1,870 ft (570 m) of climbing. That is one of the quicker Munros to climb. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Sgairneach Mhor?
- Our route starts at Layby 79. It is free to park.
- Can you climb Sgairneach Mhor without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Dalwhinnie, 5.8 mi (9.3 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is North Drumochter Lodge, 2.6 mi (4.1 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Sgairneach Mhor a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the quicker Munros to climb, with 1,870 ft (570 m) of ascent over 3.6 mi (5.7 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 Sgairneach Mhor mean?
- In Gaelic it is Sgairneach Mhòr. It is usually translated as "big rocky hillside".
- When is the best time to climb Sgairneach Mhor?
- 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 2026-10-24T19:57:04.412Z. 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 5 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. Sgairneach Mhor is hill 384 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.