Number 171 of 282 by height · Northwest Highlands
Slioch
An t-Sleaghach
3,219 ft (981 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NH 004 690
- Latitude, longitude
- 57.66720, -5.34705
- Area
- Northwest Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 5.8 mi (9.3 km)
- Climb
- 3,245 ft (989 m)
- Estimated time up
- 3 h 30 min
- Start
- Car park near Incheril
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Cloudy
- Temperature
- 36°F (2°C)
- Wind chill
- 32°F (0°C)
- Wind
- 4 mph (7 km/h) from the west
- Cloud cover
- 99%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,327 ft (1,319 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:33, 16:36
The way up
From Car park near Incheril, follow the path north-west for 2.7 mi, almost level. On the way you cross the Allt Chnaimhean, ford a burn and pass Loch Maree on your right. It then turns north for 1.3 mi, climbing steeply from 70 ft to 1,600 ft. On the way you cross the Abhainn an Fhasaigh by a bridge. It then turns north-west for the last 1.6 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 1,600 ft to 3,200 ft. On the way you cross the Allt Coire na Sleaghaich. The steepest part is between 2,000 ft and 3,000 ft, about 4.6 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,219 ft (981 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 Incheril. Free to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Slioch car park57.60862,-5.28653
By train
Nearest station: Achnasheen, 8.2 mi (13 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Kinlochewe, Post Office, 0.6 mi (1.0 km) from the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Toilets 0.6 mi (0.9 km)
- Pub: Kinlochewe Hotel 0.6 mi (1.0 km)
- Hostel: Kinlochewe Bunkhouse 0.6 mi (1.0 km)
- Shop: Kinlochewe Village Stores 0.6 mi (1.0 km)
- Shop: Kinlochewe Service Station 0.7 mi (1.2 km)
- Café: The Coffee Shop 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 Slioch
- In Gaelic
- An t-Sleaghach
- Means
- The spear
Slioch rises about 5 miles north of Kinlochewe in Wester Ross, standing over the south-east end of Loch Maree in one of the best-known views in the Highlands, seen from the A832. It is built of Torridonian sandstone resting on Lewisian gneiss, and steep crags guard three of its sides, leaving the big open corrie of Coire na Sleaghaich on the south-east as the walker's way in.
From Lochan Fada to the north-east, its top Sgùrr an Tuill Bhàin, 3,061 ft (933 m), stands up as a slender peak, and it is from this view that the hill takes its name. Slioch rises 2,054 ft (626 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, making it a Marilyn, and the nearest higher Munro, Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair, is 4 miles away.
The highest point is an outcrop about 3 m south of the cairn, though rocks to the north may be just as high.
Tops on Slioch
One lower summit in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Sgurr an Tuill BhainNH 018 688 | 3,064 ft (934 m) | 0.9 mi (1.4 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Slioch 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 Tarsuinn | 3,064 ft (934 m) | 3.2 mi (5.1 km) |
| A' Mhaighdean | 3,173 ft (967 m) | 3.6 mi (5.8 km) |
| Mullach Coire Mhic Fhearchair | 3,331 ft (1,015 m) | 4.0 mi (6.5 km) |
Common questions about Slioch
- How high is Slioch?
- Slioch is 3,219 ft (981 m), number 171 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Northwest Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Slioch?
- About 3 h 30 min up and 2 h back down by our route from Car park near Incheril, before stops: 5.8 mi (9.3 km) each way with 3,245 ft (989 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Slioch?
- Our route starts at Car park near Incheril. It is free to park.
- Can you climb Slioch without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Achnasheen, 8.2 mi (13 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Kinlochewe, Post Office, 0.6 mi (1.0 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Slioch a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 3,245 ft (989 m) of ascent over 5.8 mi (9.3 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 Slioch mean?
- In Gaelic it is An t-Sleaghach. It is usually translated as "the spear".
- When is the best time to climb Slioch?
- 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 2026-10-24T20:04:01.699Z. Start: the public car park nearest the usual start named on Wikipedia (Incheril, found by "Incheril" 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 3 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. Slioch is hill 1010 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.