Number 270 of 282 by height · Southeastern Highlands
Sgiath Chuil
An Sgiath Chùil
3,019 ft (920 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 462 317
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.45316, -4.49566
- Area
- Southeastern Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 3.8 mi (6.1 km)
- Climb
- 2,513 ft (766 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 30 min
- Start
- Car park near Auchessan
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 21:21. Not live.
- Weather
- Clear sky
- Temperature
- 32°F (0°C)
- Wind chill
- 29°F (−2°C)
- Wind
- 3 mph (5 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 2%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 2,969 ft (905 m), below the summit
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:25, 16:37
The way up
From the car park near Auchessan, follow the road north-west for 0.6 mi, almost level. On the way you cross the River Dochart. Then follow the track north for 0.3 mi, climbing gently from 540 ft to 640 ft. Then follow the path north for 1.1 mi, climbing steadily from 640 ft to 1,450 ft. Then follow the track north-east for 0.3 mi, climbing gently from 1,450 ft to 1,500 ft. Then follow the path north-east for the last 1.4 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 1,500 ft to 3,000 ft. On the way you cross the Allt Glas and the Allt Riobain. The steepest part is between 1,750 ft and 2,550 ft, about 2.8 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,019 ft (920 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 Auchessan. Parking charge not known. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Sgiath Chuil car park56.41532,-4.50987
By train
Nearest station: Crianlarich, 4.5 mi (7.2 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Crianlarich opposite Police Station, 4.4 mi (7.0 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 Sgiath Chuil
- In Gaelic
- An Sgiath Chùil
Sgiath Chùil stands on the northern edge of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, about 7 miles west of Killin. It rises 1,020 ft (311 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, which makes it a Marilyn as well as a Munro. Its nearest higher neighbour is Meall Glas, 2 miles away, and it has one listed top, Meall a' Churain.
When Hugh Munro published his list in the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal in September 1891, he made Meall a' Churain the mountain and Sgiath Chùil only a top. The first revision of the Tables in 1921 put this right.
A cairn on a rock outcrop marks the summit.
Tops on Sgiath Chuil
One lower summit in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Meall a' ChurainNN 462 324 | 3,010 ft (917 m) | 0.4 mi (0.7 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Sgiath Chuil 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Meall Glas | 3,146 ft (959 m) | 2.0 mi (3.2 km) |
| Beinn Challuim | 3,363 ft (1,025 m) | 4.7 mi (7.6 km) |
| Ben More | 3,852 ft (1,174 m) | 4.9 mi (8.0 km) |
Common questions about Sgiath Chuil
- How high is Sgiath Chuil?
- Sgiath Chuil is 3,019 ft (920 m), number 270 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Southeastern Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Sgiath Chuil?
- About 2 h 30 min up and 1 h 15 min back down by our route from the car park near Auchessan, before stops: 3.8 mi (6.1 km) each way with 2,513 ft (766 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Sgiath Chuil?
- Our route starts at the car park near Auchessan.
- Can you climb Sgiath Chuil without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Crianlarich, 4.5 mi (7.2 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Crianlarich opposite Police Station, 4.4 mi (7.0 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Sgiath Chuil a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 2,513 ft (766 m) of ascent over 3.8 mi (6.1 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 Sgiath Chuil?
- 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.
- Walks 0.3 mi along a main road before the path starts.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T19:54:56.481Z. 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 30 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. Sgiath Chuil is hill 165 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.