Number 51 of 282 by height · West Highlands
Sgurr a' Mhaim
Sgùrr a' Mhàim
3,606 ft (1,099 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 164 667
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.75593, -5.00371
- Area
- West Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 2.2 mi (3.6 km)
- Climb
- 3,396 ft (1,035 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 25 min
- Start
- Glen Nevis Lower Falls
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Fair
- Temperature
- 35°F (2°C)
- Wind chill
- 32°F (0°C)
- Wind
- 4 mph (6 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 20%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,364 ft (1,330 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:28, 16:38
The way up
From Glen Nevis Lower Falls, follow the path south-east for 0.6 mi, climbing steeply from 180 ft to 750 ft. On the way you cross the Water of Nevis. It then turns south-east for the last 1.2 mi to the summit, climbing very steeply from 750 ft to 3,600 ft. The steepest part is between 840 ft and 2,400 ft, about 0.7 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,606 ft (1,099 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
Glen Nevis Lower Falls. Free to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Sgurr a' Mhaim car park56.77055,-5.03673
By train
Nearest station: Fort William, 4.3 mi (7.0 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Lower Falls, right by 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 Sgurr a' Mhaim
- In Gaelic
- Sgùrr a' Mhàim
- Means
- Rocky peak of the rounded hill
- Say it
- SKOOR uh VAAYM
Sgùrr a' Mhàim sits directly across Glen Nevis from Ben Nevis and is the second-highest peak in the Mamores. Ben Nevis, 2.8 miles away, is the nearest higher Munro, and Sgùrr a' Mhàim rises 1,037 ft (316 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, so it is also a Marilyn.
To the south it joins the main Mamores spine by the Devil's Ridge, a rolling crest about two thirds of a mile long with a few exposed sections. Stob Choire a' Mhàil, 3,248 ft (990 m), rises midway along it and Sgùrr an Iubhair, 3,284 ft (1,001 m), stands at the far end. Sgùrr an Iubhair looks like a separate mountain from the ridge and was briefly a Munro, from 1981 until 1997. Both are now listed as tops of Sgùrr a' Mhàim. Hamish Brown thought the Bad Step overrated, noting that it can be jumped.
The north side is quite different, with steep slopes falling to Glen Nevis and two corries that end in cliffs above the Nevis gorge. A cairn marks the summit.
Tops on Sgurr a' Mhaim
2 lower summits in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Sgurr an Iubhair [Sgor an Iubhair]NN 165 655 | 3,280 ft (1,000 m) | 0.8 mi (1.2 km) |
| Stob Choire a' MhailNN 163 660 | 3,248 ft (990 m) | 0.5 mi (0.7 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Sgurr a' Mhaim 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Am Bodach | 3,385 ft (1,032 m) | 1.2 mi (2.0 km) |
| Stob Ban | 3,280 ft (1,000 m) | 1.3 mi (2.1 km) |
| Stob Coire a' Chairn | 3,219 ft (981 m) | 1.4 mi (2.2 km) |
Common questions about Sgurr a' Mhaim
- How high is Sgurr a' Mhaim?
- Sgurr a' Mhaim is 3,606 ft (1,099 m), number 51 of the 282 Munros by height, in the West Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Sgurr a' Mhaim?
- About 2 h 25 min up and 45 min back down by our route from Glen Nevis Lower Falls, before stops: 2.2 mi (3.6 km) each way with 3,396 ft (1,035 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Sgurr a' Mhaim?
- Our route starts at Glen Nevis Lower Falls. It is free to park.
- Can you climb Sgurr a' Mhaim without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Fort William, 4.3 mi (7.0 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Lower Falls, 0.1 mi (0.1 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Sgurr a' Mhaim a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 3,396 ft (1,035 m) of ascent over 2.2 mi (3.6 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 Sgurr a' Mhaim mean?
- In Gaelic it is Sgùrr a' Mhàim. It is usually translated as "rocky peak of the rounded hill".
- When is the best time to climb Sgurr a' Mhaim?
- 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 West Highlands before you go.
Questions
Where can I get a proper mountain forecast?
Read the Mountain Weather Information Service forecast for the West 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 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 25 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. Sgurr a' Mhaim is hill 295 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.