Beinn Dearg is the fourth highest of the

Torridon Hills The Torridon Hills surround Torridon village in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The name is usually applied to the mountains to the north of Glen Torridon. They are among the most dramatic and spectacular peaks in the British Isles and mad ...

in the

highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia * So ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. Beinn Dearg offers all the typical features of a Torridon hill, with steeply terraced rocky sides dissected by near vertical

gullies A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or commonly a combination of both eroding sharply into soil or other relatively erodible material, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble la ...

. The summit ridge is an airy crest that offers some easy

scrambling Scrambling is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using one's hands to assist in holds and balance.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. It is also used to describe terrain that falls between hiking and rock climbing (as a “scram ...

; alternatively this can be avoided by following a path that traverses the terraces on the southern side. Unlike its higher neighbours, the hill just misses out on the height of 3,000 ft, and therefore lacks any peaks of

Munro A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

status. For this reason, if no other, it is climbed far less than the three major mountains surrounding it. In 2007, the

Munro Society A Munro () is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis ...

commissioned CMCR Ltd to survey Beinn Dearg in order to ascertain the precise height of the summit, and determine whether it might in fact be correctly categorised as a Munro. The summit was found to be 2.42 ft short.

Ascent

The most normal starting point for climbing Beinn Dearg is the car park at the foot of the Abhainn Coire Mhic Nobuil, which is also the normal start point for an ascent of

Beinn Alligin Beinn Alligin ( gd, Beinn Àilleagan) is one of the classic mountains of the Torridon region of Scotland, lying to the north of Loch Torridon, in the Highlands. The name Beinn Alligin is from the Scottish Gaelic, meaning ''Jewelled Hill ...

. From here the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

is followed until the confluence with the Allt à Bhealaich. This burn may be followed up to the low

bealach A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migrati ...

or saddle between Beinn Dearg and

, at which point the walker can strike upwards for the western end of the summit ridge. Alternative routes of ascent may be made by continuing to follow the Abhainn Coire Mhic Nobuil under the south side of the hill. Two gullies offer routes to the summit ridge, either side of the subsidiary peak of Carn na Feòla at the eastern end of the 4 km long ridge. By combining two of the three routes described above one may complete a traverse of Beinn Dearg. The summit offers excellent views of the well known surrounding peaks of Torridon.

External links

* Beinn Dearg (Torridon) is at coordinates

Footnotes

{{Authority control Corbetts Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Northwest Highlands Torridon