Number 109 of 282 by height · West Highlands
Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor)
3,351 ft (1,021 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 222 542
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.64625, -4.90035
- Area
- West Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 2.1 mi (3.4 km)
- Climb
- 2,372 ft (723 m)
- Estimated time up
- 1 h 55 min
- Start
- Car park near Altnafeadh
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Clear sky
- Temperature
- 36°F (2°C)
- Wind chill
- 32°F (0°C)
- Wind
- 4 mph (7 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 8%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,462 ft (1,360 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:27, 16:38
Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor) weather: the forecast page
The way up
From Car park near Altnafeadh, follow the path south for 1.4 mi, climbing steeply from 960 ft to 2,550 ft. On the way you cross the River Coupall by a bridge, the Allt na Fèithe by a bridge and the Allt Coire na Tulaich. It then turns east for the last 0.5 mi to the summit, climbing very steeply from 2,550 ft to 3,350 ft. The steepest part is between 1,600 ft and 2,700 ft, about 1.0 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,351 ft (1,021 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 Altnafeadh. Parking charge not known. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor) car park56.66462,-4.90371
By train
Nearest station: Corrour, 10 mi (17 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: White Corries, 3.2 mi (5.2 km) from the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Bothy or hut: Lagangarbh 0.2 mi (0.3 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 Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor)
Stob Dearg is the main summit of Buachaille Etive Mòr, the Buachaille, at the head of Glen Etive. Seen from the north-east its pyramid is one of the most recognisable shapes in Scotland and probably the most photographed mountain in the country. The mountain is a ridge almost 5 miles long, nearly ringed by the River Etive and the River Coupall, with four main peaks: Stob Dearg at the north-east end, then Stob na Doire, its listed top, Stob Coire Altruim and Stob na Bròige, the second Munro.
The hill has seen as many as 13 deaths in one twelve-month period, and several fatal avalanches, including one in Coire na Tulaich in January 2009. The mountain appears in the James Bond film Skyfall and in music videos by Nick Heyward and The Cure.
The highest point is an outcrop near a cairn on the path. An embedded rock by the main cairn, about 115 m north-east, is 0.2 m lower. Stob Dearg rises 1,745 ft (532 m) above the col linking it to higher ground.
Tops on Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor)
One lower summit in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Stob na DoireNN 207 532 | 3,315 ft (1,011 m) | 1.1 mi (1.8 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor) 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stob Coire Raineach (Buachaille Etive Beag) | 3,033 ft (925 m) | 2.0 mi (3.2 km) |
| Stob na Broige (Buachaille Etive Mor) | 3,128 ft (953 m) | 2.2 mi (3.6 km) |
| Creise | 3,608 ft (1,100 m) | 2.4 mi (3.9 km) |
Common questions about Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor)
- How high is Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor)?
- Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor) is 3,351 ft (1,021 m), number 109 of the 282 Munros by height, in the West Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor)?
- About 1 h 55 min up and 45 min back down by our route from Car park near Altnafeadh, before stops: 2.1 mi (3.4 km) each way with 2,372 ft (723 m) of climbing. That is one of the quicker Munros to climb. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor)?
- Our route starts at Car park near Altnafeadh.
- Can you climb Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor) without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Corrour, 10 mi (17 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is White Corries, 3.2 mi (5.2 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor) a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is one of the quicker Munros to climb, with 2,372 ft (723 m) of ascent over 2.1 mi (3.4 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 Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor)?
- 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. The start and the line were chosen by hand from the usual way up. A line on a map is not a description of the ground.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T16:47:11.379Z, 16 OSM ways routed with Dijkstra (shortest distance; trunk/primary/secondary roads penalised so they are used only where no path exists).
- Elevation: Copernicus DEM GLO-90 via the Open-Meteo Elevation API, sampled every 50 m, smoothed with a 5-sample rolling median; ascent/descent summed with a 5 m hysteresis band; the 90 m DEM also rounds off summits, so maxElevM can sit below the surveyed height.
- Summit position: Database of British and Irish Hills v18 (CC BY 4.0).
Built 2026-10-24.
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 1 h 55 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. Stob Dearg (Buachaille Etive Mor) is hill 196 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.