Not too far short of a munro height, this 892m corbett nestles at the back of Kinloch Rannoch and offers a short but tough day out.

The shortest route of ascent is from a starting point 300m asl on the B847. Beware though, the route is on rough pathless and sometimes steep ground. It’s not as easy as it looks. Allow about 4 hours for this walk.

This is a high level route and you should ensure you are properly kitted out for hill walking and have the necessary navigation skills.

  • Distance: 6km / 3.6 miles
  • Ascent: 600m / 1940 feet
  • Terrain: rough heathery hillside, steep in places. Mostly path-less.
  • Start / finish: near Kinloch Rannoch, from gate at grid ref NN 707 615 on the B847. Parking for about three cars.

Route Map

route map

From the gate a grassy track leads to a small hut and another (rather broken) gate. Climb the gate or squeeze through the fence to reach the open hillside.

From here head more or less directly up the hill in a west north west direction towards the summit of Beinn a’ Chullaich. Initially the ground is bracken clad but as height is quickly gained this soon changes to heather.

The gradient is at first very steep and a zig zag track using sheep paths may be easier than a direct line. The gradient does ease off for a while and after crossing an old drystane wall, some wetter ground is encountered with the bulk of Beinn a’ Chullaich looming in front of you. The final 250m of ascent is again steep although the terrain is now more grassy and easier to negotiate than the previous heather clad slopes. Depending upon the exact route you take, you may reach a substantial shooting butt just below the summit.

The summit is crowned with a large impressive cairn and an OS trig point (the cairn is slightly higher than the trig point). From here the views are extensive across to Glencoe and Ben Nevis. A trodden path crosses the summit area and will take you down to a coll and over to the north top Mean nan Eun. This summit has two small cairns of which the first one is the highest point.

From this summit pick the best direct route in a south east direction aiming for the gate that you climbed earlier at the corner of the forest. There’s a short steep descent before the gradient eases off as you cross the corrie. The final descent is again steep and a zig zag route may help as you pick your way down the hillside to the first gate. From there use the same grassy path that you used earlier, to return to the roadside.