Number 163 of 282 by height · Northwest Highlands
Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle
Sgùrr Dearg
3,234 ft (986 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NG 444 215
- Latitude, longitude
- 57.21328, -6.23484
- Area
- Northwest Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 2.3 mi (3.7 km)
- Climb
- 3,077 ft (938 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 20 min
- Start
- Car park near Glen Brittle
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Fair
- Temperature
- 37°F (3°C)
- Wind chill
- 30°F (−1°C)
- Wind
- 8 mph (13 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 31%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,547 ft (1,386 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:35, 16:41
Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle weather: the forecast page
The way up
From Car park near Glen Brittle, follow the path east all the way to the summit, 2.1 mi, climbing very steeply from 50 ft to 3,250 ft. On the way you cross the Allt Coire na Banachdaich, pass Eas Mòr and go over Sgùrr Dearg Beag (3,000 ft). The steepest part is between 1,350 ft and 2,550 ft, about 1.2 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,234 ft (986 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 Glen Brittle. Parking charge not known. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle car park57.21191,-6.28828
By train
Nearest station: Kyle of Lochalsh, 22 mi (35 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Campsite, 0.5 mi (0.9 km) from the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Hostel: Glenbrittle Youth Hostel 0.6 mi (0.9 km)
- Café: Cuillin Coffee Co 0.6 mi (1.0 km)
- Campsite: Glenbrittle Campsite 0.7 mi (1.1 km)
- Toilets 0.7 mi (1.2 km)
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 Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle
- In Gaelic
- Sgùrr Dearg
- Means
- Red rocky peak
Sgùrr Dearg stands on the main Cuillin ridge on Skye, where Coire Lagan, Coire na Banachdich and Coir'-uisg meet, and faces Sgùrr Alasdair across Coire Lagan. It is the second-highest peak in the Cuillin. Its high point is the Inaccessible Pinnacle, or An Stac, a fin of rock about 160 ft (50 m) along its longest edge. Unlike most of the Cuillin the Pinnacle is basalt rather than gabbro, so it is slippery when wet.
The 1891 Tables listed the lower top beside the Pinnacle, 3,209 ft (978 m), as the Munro and the Pinnacle only as a subsidiary top, for reasons that remain unclear. The 1921 revision reversed this. Charles and Lawrence Pilkington made the first ascent on 18 August 1880, guided to its foot by a local shepherd, John Mackenzie. The usual line, the long east ridge, is graded Moderate but is narrow and very exposed.
The summit is an upright boulder on top of the Pinnacle. It rises 615 ft (188 m) above the col linking it to higher ground.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sgurr Mhic Choinnich | 3,111 ft (948 m) | 0.5 mi (0.8 km) |
| Sgurr na Banachdich | 3,166 ft (965 m) | 0.6 mi (1.0 km) |
| Sgurr Alasdair | 3,255 ft (992 m) | 0.6 mi (1.0 km) |
Part of a bigger day: 8 Munros in one go, Sgurr a' Mhadaidh, Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh, Sgurr na Banachdich, Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, Sgurr nan Eag, Sgurr Dubh Mor, Sgurr Alasdair.
Common questions about Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle
- How high is Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle?
- Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle is 3,234 ft (986 m), number 163 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Northwest Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle?
- About 2 h 20 min up and 45 min back down by our route from Car park near Glen Brittle, before stops: 2.3 mi (3.7 km) each way with 3,077 ft (938 m) of climbing. That is one of the quicker Munros to climb. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle?
- Our route starts at Car park near Glen Brittle.
- Can you climb Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Kyle of Lochalsh, 22 mi (35 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Campsite, 0.5 mi (0.9 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the quicker Munros to climb, with 3,077 ft (938 m) of ascent over 2.3 mi (3.7 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.
- Can you climb other Munros with Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle?
- Yes. Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle can be linked with Sgurr a' Mhadaidh, Sgurr a' Ghreadaidh, Sgurr na Banachdich, Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, Sgurr nan Eag, Sgurr Dubh Mor, Sgurr Alasdair along the ridge, for 8 Munros in one long day. See Big days for the full plan.
- What does Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle mean?
- In Gaelic it is Sgùrr Dearg. It is usually translated as "red rocky peak".
- When is the best time to climb Sgurr Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle?
- 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 Northwest Highlands before you go.
Questions
Where can I get a proper mountain forecast?
Read the Mountain Weather Information Service forecast for the Northwest 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 2026-10-24T20:07:29.136Z. Start: the public car park nearest the usual start named on Wikipedia (Glen Brittle, found by "Glen Brittle" on OpenStreetMap) with the shortest mapped-path route to the summit.
- 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 20 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 Dearg - Inaccessible Pinnacle is hill 1240 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.