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Drumochter Munros
Guided hillwalking days in the Central Highlands
We're in the Central Highlands heading up a variety of summits on either side of the Drumochter Pass, including mighty Beinn Udlamain and Carn na Caim.
It's winter, so hopefully there will be a snow covering - great for wildlife spotting and practicing winter skills !
At a glance
- A weekend of guided hiking up the high peaks on both sides of the A9 above Balsporran and the Drumochter Pass.
- Walk along wide mountain crests tracing faint paths and old fence-lines.
- Reach fine vantage points with views overlooking Loch Ericht to the Ben Alder group and beyond.
- Bag 6 Munros in the area including Beinn Udlamain, Sgairneach Mhor, A'Bhuidheanach Beag and Carn na Caim.
- Join a small group led by an experienced leader with a good knowledge of the wildlife, flora and geology.
Dates and booking
General info
Moderate hillwalking days.
This 2 day event is a guided hiking weekend to high summits in Drumochter in the Central Highlands with one of our experienced and qualified leaders.
Your guide will know the remote area well and be able to give you insight into the flora, fauna and geology.
Our maximum guide to client ratio on this event is 1:6.
You would be very welcome to join us for part of the trip, the cost of which is £69 per day.
Outline of event »
Day 1 : West of Drumochter
A hike on a circular route and high crests to bag 4 Munros west of Drumochter
| Summits : | Geal charn, A'Mharconaich, Beinn Udlamain, Sow of Atholl |
| Grading : | 'moderate day' |
| Stats : | distance : 18km, ascent : 1275m, time : 7−9 hours |
The peaks to the west of Drumochter Pass have bags of character and afford good views over Loch Ericht to the Ben Alder group and beyond.
On our Saturday we'll start by Balsporran Cottages and initially follow a track westwards.
We'll leave this behind and strike uphill to reach some weird cairns that overlook the A9.
The summit of
Geal charn is not much further from where some splendid views over Alder can be savoured.
There's usually wildlife to be seen here, mountain hares in particular often bound around.
A combination of faint paths and some lines of old iron fence posts will aid our navigation over
A'Mharconaich and
Beinn Udlamain.
Up to
Sgairneach Mhor, we have the option of a slight detour (and bit of extra ascent) to head up
The Sow of Atholl before returning to the roadside.
Map of intended route
Day 2 : East of Drumochter
We're hiking up gentle slopes leading to a remote and wild landscape
| Summits : | A'Bhuidheanach Beag, Carn a'Caim |
| Grading : | 'moderate day' |
| Stats : | distance : 15km, ascent : 850m, time : 6−8 hours |
To the east of Drumochter, vast plains create a area of remote wilderness.
The grassy terrain underfoot is tame in summer, but in winter takes on a different character when it's perfect for long hiking days.
Sunday begins on a fine track heading gently uphill.
Up onto the crests, we'll head southward and bag
A'Bhuidheanach Beag.
An about-turn, we'll trace a line of fence-posts to near
Carn a'Caim's summit with its fine view northwards and to the Cairngorms.
Depending on group desire and weather, we can extend the day to include Meall Chuaich.
To do this we'd be well away from paths or track, so hopefully see even more in the way of wildlife !
Map of intended route
Experience & fitness needed »
Moderate hillwalking days.
To join this guided event, we ask that you :
- have a good level of fitness and stamina
- have done some hillwalking
- are comfortable hiking for 7 hours plus
- had exposure to British mountain weather or similar
The routes have good paths lower down with generally grassy slopes leading to varied terrain higher up.
Both days are classed as 'moderate'. With winter conditions we would class the Saturday as 'demanding'. If we extend Sunday to include Meall Chuaich, then this day would also be classed 'demanding'.
Have a look at
how we grade our events or
contact us for more information.
Gear you'll need »
You'll need your general hiking and hill-walking gear appropriate to the conditions and time of year.
More information on this gear along with a checklist to download and Pinterest board for specific suggestions can be found on our
Mountain Gear page.
Your guide »
More information on your guide can be found on our
About Us page.
Location & accommodation »
We begin from near Dalwhinnie which has excellent public transport links from Inverness and the Central Belt.
Below is a list of accommodation that previous guests on our trips have recommended.
Other accommodation can be found at
Visit Scotland.
Around a month prior to an event taking place, we hope to set up a 'Whatsapp' chat group for the event. This will hopefully help participants find out where others are staying and organise car-share.
Please note that our expertise lies in offering you great guided days in Scotland's mountains and not providing transport or arranging your accommodation. Please see our
FAQs for more information.
Previous trips »
Below on our Blog or on Flickr are some previous trips similar to this one.
