Càrn Gorm is a mountain in the Breadalbane region of the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

, with a height of . It stands in a group of four Munro mountains known as the Càrn Mairg group or the Glen Lyon Horseshoe, on the north side of Glen Lyon,

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

Overview

Càrn Gorm reaches a height of 1029 metres (3376 feet), it qualifies as a Munro and a Marilyn. It is often climbed as part of the circuit of the Càrn Mairg Munros which stand in a curving arc around the Invervar Burn. Càrn Gorm is the first of the hills climbed when the round is walked in a clockwise direction, it is then followed by Meall Garbh, Càrn Mairg and Meall nan Aighean. Although not the highest of the group Càrn Gorm is often regarded as the finest looking with its summit shaped into a neat cone."In the Hills of Breadalbane" Page 214 Càrn Gorm is well individualised, terminating in a neat cone. The hill lies within the Chesthill estate, and large herds of deer are often seen on its slopes. Càrn Gorm translates literally from the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

as "blue hill", but the word ''gorm'' is also used for the green of foliage, and probably comes from the dark tones of the grass on the hillside rather than the shady hues of the conifer plantation on its south east slopes which was planted well after the hill was named."The Magic of the Munros" Page 24 Gives details of name translation.

Geography

Càrn Gorm is mostly composed of grassy slopes with sporadic rocky outcrops, its attractive summit peak is formed by the meeting of four ridges of varying lengths. The NW ridge is the longest, running for eight km down to the shores of Loch Rannoch its lower slopes are clothed in the woodlands of the Carie and Cragganester Woods

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

part of the ancient Black Wood of Rannoch. The SE ridge descends to the glen of the Invervar Burn and is planted with coniferous woodland on its lower slopes. This eastern side of the mountain is part of the Càrn Gorm and Meall Garbh

, a 1930 hectare area of sub-alpine mountain habitat, an example of natural and undisturbed territory within the UK with rare plant species. Lower down by the Invervar Burn are the remains of some old shielings from the time when cattle were brought up to summer pasture on these hills.www.angus.gov.uk.
Gives details of Carn Gorm and Meall Garbh SSSI. Càrn Gorm's south ridge is short and steep with some crags and is best shunned as a walking route, it descends quickly to Glen Lyon near Camusvrachan. The north ridge is more significant connecting the mountain to the adjoining Munro of Meall Garbh, firstly going over the subsidiary top of An Sgorr (The Rocky Peak). With a height of 924 metres An Sgorr is listed in the Munro Tables as a “Top” of Càrn Gorm.
Spreadsheet giving details of changes to successive editions of Munro's Tables. On the traverse between the two Munros, An Sgorr can be by-passed on its NW side, but most walkers will climb it and then drop to the col with a height of 845 metres before climbing to Meall Garbh. In between the ridges there are steep slopes, especially to the east, north and SW. All drainage from Càrn Gorm feeds the

River Tay The River Tay ( gd, Tatha, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing') is the longest river in Scotland and the seventh-longest in Great Britain. The Tay originates ...

with the majority going south via Glen Lyon although a small percentage goes north via Loch Rannoch.

Ascents and summit

As mentioned, Càrn Gorm is invariably climbed as the first peak of the Glen Lyon horseshoe, the start is at Invervar in Glen Lyon (grid reference ) where there is a small car park. The route goes north through the woodland for just over a kilometre until the open hillside is reached, the hill can then be climbed by its SE ridge.The Munros: Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers' Guide. As an alternative to the Glen Lyon horseshoe walk, Càrn Gorm can climbed with the adjoining

corbett Corbett may refer to: * List of Corbetts (mountains), 222 mountains in Scotland between , with prominence over * Corbett, Oregon, a community in the United States * Corbett Award, US award for athletics administrators * Corbett (surname), people w ...

of Beinn Dearg, which lies 2.5 km to the west across the steep sided Dubh Choirein starting at Camusvrachen (grid reference ) at the foot of that glen. The summit has two high points, the true summit is marked by a small

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

while 80 metres to the NW is the site of the OS trig point which has been pushed over and is lying on its side, surrounded by a wind shelter. The best views from the summit are to the south, there being an aerial view of Glen Lyon and a good spectacle of the Ben Lawers range.

References

*''The Munros'', Scottish Mountaineering Trust, 1986, Donald Bennett (Editor) *''In the Hills of Breadalbane'', V.A. Firsoff, no ISBN *''The Munros, Scotland's Highest Mountains'', Cameron McNeish, *''The Magic Of The Munros'', Irvine Butterfield, *''Hamish’s Mountain Walk'', Hamish Brown, Footnotes {{DEFAULTSORT:Carn Gorm Munros Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Southern Highlands Mountains and hills of Perth and Kinross One-thousanders of Scotland