Chno Dearg () is a mountain in the

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

area of the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

. It overlooks

Glen Spean The River Spean flows from Loch Laggan in a westerly direction to join the River Lochy at Gairlochy in the Great Glen in the West Highlands of Scotland. Major tributaries of the Spean include the left-bank Abhainn Ghuilbinn and River Treig, ...

to the north and

Loch Treig Loch Treig is a deep freshwater loch situated in a steep-sided glen 20km east of Fort William, in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. While there are no roads alongside the loch, the West Highland Line follows its eastern bank. Loch Treig was origina ...

to the west. With a height of , it is classed as a

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 Nevi ...

Name

The name "Chno Dearg" was suggested to come from Gaelic ''Cnò Dearg'' (, English approximation: ), "red nut"; the red referring to the profusion of heather on the hill."The Magic of the Munros" Page 68 Gives details of name translation and meaning. However,

Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba (; "Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland") is the national advisory partnership for Gaelic place names in Scotland. Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba are based at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on Skye. History Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba began as the ...

says the spelling "Chno Dearg" is an Ordnance Survey mistake. Earlier maps give the name as ''Cnoc Dearg'' (, English approximation: ), "red hill".

Landscape

Chno Dearg is east of

in the high ground between the loch and Strath Ossian. It reaches a height of 1046 metres (3432 feet) and qualifies as a

and a Marilyn. It is not regarded as a particularly striking hill, being described in the SMCs Munro guide as "a rounded and featureless hill"."The Munros" Page 79 Gives this quote. Chno Dearg has a considerable

topographic prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

of 649 metres, being surrounded by the deep glens of Glen Spean, Loch Treig and Strath Ossian, and its summit is a fine viewpoint especially for the

Creag Meagaidh Creag Meagaidh () is a mountain on the northern side of Glen Spean in the Highlands of Scotland. It is a complex mountain, made up of a flat summit plateau, with five ridges spreading out from it, overlooking five deep corries; it is most f ...

group of hills to the northeast. Another feature of the mountain is its appeal to the ski mountaineer, with its sweeping northern slopes offering a continuous five km run with 750 metres of descent from the summit."The Munros, Scotland‘s Highest Mountains" Page 80 Gives details on ski mountaineering possibilities. Chno Dearg's expansive northern flank falls gradually to Glen Spean and the shores of

Loch Laggan Loch Laggan is a freshwater loch situated approximately west of Dalwhinnie in the Scottish Highlands. The loch has an irregular shape, runs nearly northeast to southwest and is approximately in length. It has an average depth of and is at its ...

, the lower part being covered with an extensive forestry plantation. These northern slopes can be boggy at times with numerous small streams, and contain the subsidiary top of Meall Chaorach (815 metres) which is 1.5 km from the main summit. On the western side of the hill is Coire an Lochain, a shallow hollow with gentle slopes which contains Lochan Coire an Lochain. The mountain's main ridge goes southwest from the summit to a

col A col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks; a mountain pass or saddle. COL, CoL or col may also refer to: Computers * Caldera OpenLinux, a defunct Linux distribution * , an HTML element specifying a column * A collision sig ...

with a height of 923 metres. Here it splits, with one spur swinging round the head of Coire an Lochain to go eventually north and link to the adjoining Munro of Stob Coire Sgriodain. The other spur continues southerly to link to Meall Garbh (976 metres) which is listed as a “top” in Munro's Tables and has steep crags on its eastern flank. The south side of Chno Dearg contains the steep-sided Coire nan Cnamh which falls precipitously to the glen of the Allt Feith Thuill, a tributary of the River Ossian. All drainage from the mountain reaches the River Spean to the north where it flows to the west coast of Scotland.

Climbing

Chno Dearg is usually climbed from the hamlet of Fersit (); as a rule the adjacent Munro of Stob Coire Sgriodain is also included in the ascent. The route from Fersit offers a natural round of Coire an Lochain, taking in both Munros, with a brief detour to take in the “top” of Meall Garbh. However the nearness of the

West Highland Line The West Highland Line ( – "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in the world by readers of indepen ...

in the area offers walkers the alternative of starting from Corrour railway station and climbing Beinn na Lap first and then continuing north over Chno Dearg and Stob Coire Sgriodain to finish at Tulloch railway station to catch the evening train."The Munros" Page 79 Gives details of ascents from Fersit and Corrour.

References

*''The Munros'', Scottish Mountaineering Trust, Donald Bennett (Editor) et al., *''The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland'',

Irvine Butterfield Irvine Butterfield (1936–2009) was an environmentalist, hillwalker and author of several books about mountains and the outdoor environment who took a significant role in the running of organisations with such interests in Scotland. He was a go ...

, *''The Munros, Scotland’s Highest Mountains'',

Cameron McNeish Cameron McNeish FRSGS is a Scottish wilderness hiker, backpacker and mountaineer who is an authority on outdoor pursuits. In this field he is best known as an author and broadcaster although he is also a magazine editor, lecturer and after dinn ...

, *''Hamish’s Mountain Walk'',

Hamish Brown Hamish Brown Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. Royal Scottish Geographical Society, FRSGS is a professional writer, lecturer and photographer specialising in mountain and outdoor topics. He is best known for his walking exploits in the Scottish ...

, *''The Magic of the Munros'', Irvine Butterfield, Footnotes {{Coord, 56.830086, -4.660831, display=title Munros Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Central Highlands Mountains and hills of Highland (council area) One-thousanders of Scotland