Gairloch Hills

You are unlikely to find these smaller hills in any hill-walking guide! That is why they are relatively unclimbed, and you can walk all day among them without seeing anyone. If you like pathless walking on moor, bog and rock, surrounded by small crags and lochans, then get to know this area. Especially if you enjoy rock-scrambling.

I have given the higher tops a list, like the Munros; but you could bag them all in one very long day if fit enough. More reasonably, take 3 or 4 days - or 10! And there are many lower hills which are also worth walking.

These hills need a name, like the "Munros". Provisionally I'm naming them the "Minis" since they are mini-mountains (the name Miniatures has been used for the hills south of the road).

Table of Gairloch Minis in order of height

Hills Over 300 Metres in the area enclosed by the A832 and Loch Maree, which have a drop of 50 metres or more all round them. (The first two both deserve to be in, but the drop between them is too small: a summit and a subsidiary top?)

Some pictures to give an idea of the terrain…

Health and Safety Warning!  In parts of the area the ground is peppered with square holes. These were dug for tree-planting (on the removed turf), but more often than not the tree either was never planted or has died. Beware! Sadly, they look like vandalism, as does the whole attempt to plant trees on the higher ground here.

Above is An Groban, at the head of Flowerdale: a remarkably rocky amphibolite hill, well known for its scrambling potential. The two right-hand ribs give exciting routes on very grippy rock: Humpback Buttress and Right-Hand Slabs.

East of Gairloch,

between the A832 and Loch Maree

Back to HILLS

* Not named on OS maps; name taken from nearby loch

This is “Cnoc and Lochan” country: countless small rocky hills with water filling the hollows. The rock is 3 billion year old Gneiss (above) and 2 billion year old Amphibolite (right).