Number 119 of 282 by height · Northwest Highlands
The Saddle
An Dìollaid
3,319 ft (1,012 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NG 936 131
- Latitude, longitude
- 57.16242, -5.41473
- Area
- Northwest Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 5.6 mi (9.0 km)
- Climb
- 3,291 ft (1,003 m)
- Estimated time up
- 3 h 30 min
- Start
- Car park near Shiel Bridge
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 20:25. Not live.
- Weather
- Fair
- Temperature
- 34°F (1°C)
- Wind
- 2 mph (4 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 24%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 3,976 ft (1,212 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:31, 16:38
The way up
From Car park near Shiel Bridge, follow the track south for 0.5 mi, climbing gently from 30 ft to 170 ft. On the way you pass River Shiel on your right. Then follow the path south for 3.6 mi, climbing steadily from 170 ft to 1,950 ft. On the way you cross the Allt Undalain and the Allt Undalain and go over Meallan Odhar. It then turns south-west for 1.0 mi, climbing steadily from 1,950 ft to 2,650 ft. On the way you pass Lochan Bealach Coire Mhalagain on your left. It then turns north-west for the last 0.4 mi to the summit, climbing very steeply from 2,650 ft to 3,300 ft. The steepest part is between 2,450 ft and 3,300 ft, about 4.8 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,319 ft (1,012 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 Shiel Bridge. Parking charge not known. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the The Saddle car park57.21196,-5.41536
By train
Nearest station: Stromeferry, 11 mi (18 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Junction, right by the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Campsite: Glenshiel Campsite by the start
- Café: Chocolates of Glenshiel by the start
- Café: The Wee Bun House 0.6 mi (0.9 km)
- Place to eat: Kintail Lodge Hotel 0.6 mi (1.0 km)
- Shop: Kintail Crafts 1.0 mi (1.6 km)
- Place to eat: The Pitstop at Kintail 1.0 mi (1.7 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 The Saddle
- In Gaelic
- An Dìollaid
The Saddle is counted among the great Scottish mountains. Seen with Faochag from the site of the Battle of Glen Shiel, it makes one of the best-known views in the Highlands. It sits on the old county boundary between Inverness-shire and Ross and Cromarty. From Glen Shiel its twin summits and the ridge between them look like a saddle, and the Gaelic name, An Dìollaid, has given way to the English one, so it is among the few Highland mountains commonly known by an English name.
The hill gives exciting, demanding climbing in summer and winter. Sgurr na Forcan, Spidean Dhomhuill Bhric and Sgurr Leac nan Each are listed as its tops, and Sgurr na Sgine is 1.3 miles away. It rises 1,096 ft (334 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, and the nearest higher Munro, Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe, is 3.2 miles off.
A small cairn marks the summit.
Tops on The Saddle
3 lower summits in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Sgurr na ForcanNG 940 130 | 3,165 ft (965 m) | 0.3 mi (0.4 km) |
| Spidean Dhomhuill BhricNG 922 129 | 3,085 ft (940 m) | 0.9 mi (1.4 km) |
| Sgurr Leac nan EachNG 917 133 | 3,015 ft (919 m) | 1.1 mi (1.8 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on The Saddle 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 na Sgine | 3,104 ft (946 m) | 1.3 mi (2.0 km) |
| Sgurr na Carnach | 3,287 ft (1,002 m) | 3.1 mi (4.9 km) |
| Creag nan Damh | 3,009 ft (917 m) | 3.2 mi (5.1 km) |
Common questions about The Saddle
- How high is The Saddle?
- The Saddle is 3,319 ft (1,012 m), number 119 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Northwest Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb The Saddle?
- About 3 h 30 min up and 1 h 50 min back down by our route from Car park near Shiel Bridge, before stops: 5.6 mi (9.0 km) each way with 3,291 ft (1,003 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for The Saddle?
- Our route starts at Car park near Shiel Bridge.
- Can you climb The Saddle without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Stromeferry, 11 mi (18 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Junction, 0.2 mi (0.4 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is The Saddle a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 3,291 ft (1,003 m) of ascent over 5.6 mi (9.0 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 The Saddle?
- 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 (Shiel Bridge, found by "Shiel Bridge" 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. The Saddle is hill 688 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.