Glen Roy Corbetts

In Glen Roy, looking north

The village of Roy Bridge lies on the A86, a few miles east of the junction with the A82 at Spean Bridge. In the village by the bridge over the River Roy, a junction with a sign indicates the way to Glen Roy.

Head up this road which is single track with passing places. The amount of sheep-shit along this road is quite something (therefore expect to use the jet-hose later) !

The road twists and turns through woodland, then comes out and climbs to a view point with parking area.

After dropping downhill and around 10km on from Roy Bridge, the road travels below Beinn Iaruinn where various roadside places can be found to park.

Approaching Beinn Iaruinn's summit

There are a few ways to get up Beinn Iaruinn, but finding a parking spot which doesn't cause any obstruction can be slightly tricky. This route starts from the east of Beinn Iaruinn, to the north of the bridge over the Allt nan Eun, and on a flat grassy area far enough away from the roadside edge.

From the roadside, aim directly uphill, through grass and heather, ever thickening as height is gained. Crossing the parallel roads gives a little respite and some deer-trods can occasionally be found to ease the effort further.

Gradually the crest of Beinn Iaruinn is reached just below a minor top to north-east of the summit (marked spot height of 778m or 779m depending on map used).

A very faint path can be traced over grass along the crest heading towards Beinn Iaruinn's summit. On the summit there is a small cairn perched above the rim of Coire nan Eun.

On Teanga Bheag looking to Carn Dearg (north of Glean Eachach)

Once Beinn Iaruinn is in the bag, being a bit blun, that's probably the most interesting part of the route done ! The remaing route across the two Carn Deargs is over fairly mundane moorland with rather uninspiring views ahead.

On Beinn Iaruinn, about turn and follow the faint path east along Beinn Iaruinn's crest and up to the minor summit . Head around various small lochans, to then turn northwards. A long descent over lumpy, grassy and occasionally damp ground gains the edge of forestry below in the eastern reaches of Glen Gloy. A rather tired and dilapidated deer-fence surrounds the forest with loose wire to catch out the unaware !

Keeping the deer-fence on your left, drop to the wide and wet bealach below. Cross the fence and follow it uphill while aiming north-north-east. At around the 550m contour, the fence turns north-west - leave it here and continue in a north-north-east direction.

Passing a couple of posts, a slight drop reaches the Allt Teanga Bige , where some recently made tracks travel up Teanga Bheag . Cross this flat area, bounding around some peat-hags, then turn east-north-east and aim for Carn Dearg (817m).

There's a fair trudge over lumpy grass covered ground of around 3km. Only when nearing Carn Dearg's summit does the grass become more stunted and some rocks are encountered. A small cairn rests on the grassy summit.

Carn Dearg (south of Glean Eachach) from Carn Dearg (north of Glean Eachach)

In clear conditions, the route to Carn Dearg (768m) is obvious, but in mist not so much !

The topography surrounding Carn Dearg (817m)'s summit might be slightly confusing at first, but take a bearing just east of south and begin to hike. Once beyond the summit rocks and mounds, a descent is made down the hill's fall-line. It's a gentle grassy slope, no path, losing just 250m of height.

A peat-hag bealach is crossed, followed by a short hike up a grassy slope (again no path) of less than 200m of ascent. The summit of Carn Dearg (768m) is reached with a small pile of stones marking the highest point.

Looking down Glen Roy from the slopes of Carn Dearg

On Carn Dearg (768m), turn south-west and begin to hike down a gentle slope, initially grass covered at first. If you can see Glen Roy below, simply aim for it !

Keeping well to the west of the Allt Dearg, at around the 450m contour you should be able to pick up an ATV track which if followed will lead to an estate track on the flat ground around 1km north of Turret Bridge.

Once on the track, follow it to Turret Bridge , then the buildings at Bray Roy Lodge. Just beyond the lodge, pick up the end of the public road and follow it back to where you started the day's hiking.

On summit of Carn Dearg (east of Glen Roy)

From Carn Dearg (768m), instead of aiming directly back, it's fairly straightforward to detour up the Carn Dearg east of Glen Roy. Although this detour doesn't add much distance to the route, there is an additional ascent of 650m to contend with, some of which is pretty steep !

Leaving Carn Dearg (768m) as above, drop toward Turret Bridge . Just before reaching the bridge, take an estate track of to the left which heads eastwards following the River Roy upsteam. The track comes to a bridge over the river, which is crossed, thereafter aiming for a large patch of forestry.

Around the forestry, turn southwards and hike directly uphill (easier than maps suggest). It's fairly steep with the gradient beginning to ease at arouund 500m and picking up a line of old wooden fence-posts at around the 650m contour.

Follow the fence-post over a minor summit at spot height of 675m, across a wide bealach, then uphill again, going around another minor summit to a bealach before Carn Dearg (834m). A faint path can be picked up to follow to this Carn Dearg's summit .

Make a descent to the bridge over the River Roy north-west of Carn Dearg (834m). More information on descent route options is on the Carn Dearg, east of Glen Roy route page.