Cairn Toul ( gd, Càrn an t-Sabhail, 'hill of the barn') is the fourth-highest mountain in Scotland and all of the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

, after Ben Nevis,

Ben Macdui Ben Macdui ( gd, Beinn MacDuibh, meaning "MacDuff's mountain") is the second-highest mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis, and the highest of the Cairngorm Mountains. The summit is above sea level and it is class ...

and

Braeriach Braeriach or Brae Riach ( gd, Am Bràigh Riabhach, 'the brindled upland') is the third-highest mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui, rising above sea level. It is in the Scottish Highlands and is ...

. The summit is 1,291 metres (4,236 feet)

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. It is in the western massif of the

Cairngorms The Cairngorms ( gd, Am Monadh Ruadh) are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national park (the Cairngorms National Park) on 1 Se ...

, linked by a

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 ...

at about 1125 m to Braeriach. The mountain towers above the

Lairig Ghru The Lairig Ghru ( gd, Làirig Dhrù) is one of the mountain passes through the Cairngorms of Scotland. The route and mountain pass partially lies on the Mar Lodge Estate. Like many traditional routes, the ends of the route through the Lairig G ...

pass. Cairn Toul is often climbed together with other peaks. From the south, it may be climbed with The Devil's Point, which lies about 2.5 kilometres south-southeast. Alternatively, it may be climbed from the north, including Braeriach and Sgor an Lochain Uaine. Both routes are long days by Scottish standards: around 15 km (plus return) regardless of whether one starts from Coire Cas above

Speyside Speyside can refer to: * Speyside, Ontario, a settlement in Ontario * Strathspey, Scotland, the famous whisky producing region by the River Spey ** Speyside single malts, the type of whisky produced in Strathspey * Speyside, Trinidad and Tobago in T ...

, or

Linn of Dee The River Dee ( gd, Uisge Dhè) is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in ...

to the south. The mountain may also be climbed from the west, starting from Achlean in Glen Feshie. This provides for a slighter shorter route (around 27 km for the round trip), though the walker must negotiate a large expanse of undulating boggy plateau in order to reach the Breariach-Cairn Toul massif. There is a

bothy A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...

, ''

Corrour , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Corrour 3.jpg , caption = Corrour station, looking southeast , borough = Loch Ossian, Highland , country = Scotland , coor ...

'', at the point below Cairn Toul in the defile of the Lairig Ghru.

References

{{Scottish Munros section 8 Munros Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Cairngorms Mountains and hills of Aberdeenshire Places and place names on Mar Lodge Estate One-thousanders of the British Isles

See also

References