Number 238 of 282 by height · Northwest Highlands
Sron a' Choire Ghairbh
Sròn a' Choire Ghairbh
3,074 ft (937 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 222 945
- Latitude, longitude
- 57.00786, -4.92875
- Area
- Northwest Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 7.5 mi (12 km)
- Climb
- 3,386 ft (1,032 m)
- Estimated time up
- 4 h 10 min
- Start
- Car park near Clunes
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
- 34°F (1°C)
- Wind
- 4 mph (6 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 26%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,488 ft (1,368 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:29, 16:37
The way up
From Car park near Clunes, follow the track north-east for 3.7 mi, almost level. On the way you pass Loch Lochy on your right. Then follow the path north for 1.1 mi, climbing gently from 270 ft to 460 ft. It then turns west for 1.7 mi, climbing steeply from 460 ft to 2,050 ft. It then turns north for the last 0.8 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 2,050 ft to 3,050 ft. The steepest part is between 2,050 ft and 2,900 ft, about 6.6 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,074 ft (937 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 Clunes. Parking charge not known. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Sron a' Choire Ghairbh car park56.95390,-4.95365
By train
Nearest station: Spean Bridge, 4.6 mi (7.4 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Forestry Houses, 0.3 mi (0.4 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 Sron a' Choire Ghairbh
- In Gaelic
- Sròn a' Choire Ghairbh
- Means
- The nose of the rough corrie
Sròn a' Choire Ghairbh rises on the north side of Loch Lochy, about 8 miles north of Spean Bridge, and is the highest of the Loch Lochy hills. With its neighbour Meall na Teanga, 1.3 miles away, it is well seen from the A82 across the loch, showing steep slopes forested below about 1,000 ft (300 m). The two are joined by the Càm Bhealach, a clear notch in the skyline from east or west.
The hill is a horseshoe around Coire Glas, which holds the small Loch a' Choire Ghlais. The east ridge runs about 3 miles over the lesser tops of Sean Mheall and Meall nan Dearcag to the north end of Loch Lochy, while the Meall a' Choire Ghlais ridge keeps its height for over a mile before dropping steeply to the Bealach Easain and the Corbett Ben Tee.
A cairn marks the summit. It rises 2,037 ft (621 m) above the col linking it to higher ground, and the nearest higher Munro, Spidean Mialach, is 11.4 miles away.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Sron a' Choire Ghairbh 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 na Teanga | 3,008 ft (917 m) | 1.3 mi (2.1 km) |
| Beinn Teallach | 3,001 ft (915 m) | 10 mi (16 km) |
| Spidean Mialach | 3,268 ft (996 m) | 11 mi (18 km) |
Common questions about Sron a' Choire Ghairbh
- How high is Sron a' Choire Ghairbh?
- Sron a' Choire Ghairbh is 3,074 ft (937 m), number 238 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Northwest Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Sron a' Choire Ghairbh?
- About 4 h 10 min up and 2 h 40 min back down by our route from Car park near Clunes, before stops: 7.5 mi (12 km) each way with 3,386 ft (1,032 m) of climbing. That is one of the longer Munro days. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Sron a' Choire Ghairbh?
- Our route starts at Car park near Clunes.
- Can you climb Sron a' Choire Ghairbh without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Spean Bridge, 4.6 mi (7.4 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Forestry Houses, 0.3 mi (0.4 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Sron a' Choire Ghairbh a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the longer Munro days, with 3,386 ft (1,032 m) of ascent over 7.5 mi (12 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 Sron a' Choire Ghairbh mean?
- In Gaelic it is Sròn a' Choire Ghairbh. It is usually translated as "the nose of the rough corrie".
- When is the best time to climb Sron a' Choire Ghairbh?
- 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 2026-10-24T20:03:25.525Z. Start: the public car park nearest the usual start named on Wikipedia (Eas Cia-aig waterfall, found by grid reference NN176888) 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 4 h 10 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. Sron a' Choire Ghairbh is hill 758 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.