Meall na Leithreach from Dalnaspidal
Hillwalking route up Meall na Leithreach from Dalnaspidal on the A9
Following estate and ATV tracks, a direct route up Meall na Leitreach covers a distance of only 8km with 450m of ascent. The route can be extended to make a more interesting circuit.
Route outline
Corbetts | ||||
Ascent | 475m (1550ft) | |||
Distance | 13km (8m) | |||
Time | 4:00hr | |||
Start/finish | Dalnaspidal Grid Ref : NN646732 | |||
Terrain |
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Nav |
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Effort |
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Scenery |
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A bit of a mucky hike following ATV tracks leads all the way from Dalnaspital Lodge to the summit of Meall na Leithreach. Not a particularly exciting route, but views southwards from the summit are quite lovely.
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Route description
1. Getting to Dalnaspidal
Dalnaspidal
Between Blair Atholl and Dalwhinnie, the A9 travels through Drumochter Pass. Just south of this are the old railway buildings and estate lodge of Dalnaspital, with the cycle Route 7 passing along the line of the old A9.
The junction on the A9 for Dalnaspital is right at the northern end of a long section of dual-carrageway. Approaching this junction from the south is straightforward, but from the north might be more tricky while crossing traffic.
Once off the A9, turn immediately right and a car-parking area can be found just beyond a couple of houses.
2. Meall na Leitreach
Meall na Leitreach from Dalnaspidal
From the car-park, head back along the old road towards the junction, then turn right before the line of bins. Over a bridge and turn down towards the estate buildings of Dalnaspital Lodge.
You'll come to a crossing over the main Perth-Inverness railway line, pedestrian access is via a gate to the left of the main gate with a green light indicating when safe to open the gate and cross.
Once over the railway, head downhill towards Dalnaspital Lodge and just before meeting with the first building, take the track off right. Now in a field, most likely filled with sheep, head past a mast and over one bridge. Before coming to a second bridge, you'll come to a junction, where take the track heading to the left (south-east) .
The track follows the course of a man-made channel and ends by a gated bridge. Over this bridge, cross a dam, then up some rough ATV tracks to reach an estate track .
Some mucky ATV tracks can be seen taking a direct route up the fall-line of the hillside ahead - follow these as they climb 300m and reach the crest of Meall na Leitreach, around 1km north-east of the summit.
The ATV tracks turn south-west, travel over a minor bump and continue all the way to Meall na Leitreach's summit . The cairn indicating the highest point is a few metres to the east of the track (and further than the OS maps suggest).
3. Return
Track through Coire Leathanaidh towards A9
To return, the easiest course of action is to re-trace your route back to Dalnaspital. Which is exactly what I did the first time here.
On a more recent visit, I headed east from Meall na Leitreach's summit cairn and followed very faint tracks and a few fence-posts, while gradually losing height. After around 2km, and in the coire surrounding the Allt Coire Leathanaidh, an estate track (not marked on my OS map) can be picked up and followed down to the River Garry.
By the River Garry, the track meets up with another track heading east-west and on the opposite side of the river from the railway and A9. The track leads back to near Dalnaspital Lodge , from where it's a trace of the remainder of the route out back to the car-park.
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Weather forecasts »
Regional | MWIS - Southeast Highlands |
Peak specific | Mountain Forecast.com Met Office YR.no |
Seasonal | SAIS - Creag Meagaidh Midge forecast |
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