Maol Cheann-Dearg is a mountain in the

Northwest Highlands The Northwest Highlands are located in the northern third of Scotland that is separated from the Grampian Mountains by the Great Glen (Glen More). The region comprises Wester Ross, Assynt, Sutherland and part of Caithness. The Caledonian Canal, ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, between Upper

Loch Torridon Loch Torridon ( gd, Loch Thoirbheartan) is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland in the Northwest Highlands. The loch was created by glacial processes and is in total around 15 miles (25 km) long. It has two sections: Upper Loch Torridon ...

and Loch Carron, in the Coulags

deer forest The deer forest (Gaelic: frìth) is a sporting estate which is kept and managed largely or solely for the purposes of maintaining a resident population of red deer for sporting ( deer stalking) purposes. It is an institution and phenomenon pecul ...

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to t ...

. It is one of three

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 Nev ...

s in this area (the others being

Sgorr Ruadh Sgorr Ruadh ( gd, An Sgùrr Ruadh) is a mountain between Strath Carron and Glen Torridon in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It is located in Coire Lair near Achnashellach along with two other mountains, Beinn Liath Mhòr an ...

and

Beinn Liath Mhòr Beinn Liath Mhòr is a Scottish mountain situated in the mountainous area between Strath Carron and Glen Torridon in Wester Ross in the Highland region. Geologically Beinn Liath Mhòr is made up of Cambrian quartzite scree and Torridonian sand ...

) and reaches a height of 933 metres (3,060 feet), it is slightly isolated from the other two being separated by a low col of 420 metres and therefore tends to be ascended separately. The mountain is typical of the region in that geologically it is made up of a mixture of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

and

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...

, it has a steep flanks and is rock-strewn. The dome shaped summit is littered with red sandstone boulders and lacking in vegetation making its translated name of "red-headed brow" especially appropriate. The mountain is not to be confused with Maol Chinn-dearg, another Munro on the south Glen Shiel ridge.

Ascent

Maol Cheann-dearg is one of the few Scottish hills which is encircled by good

stalkers Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...

paths, being located on the

Beinn Damh Beinn Damh (or ''Ben Damph'') is a Scotland, Scottish mountain situated in the wild mountainous area between Upper Loch Torridon and Glen Carron, 25 kilometres north northeast of Kyle of Lochalsh. Beinn Damh is classed as a List of Corbetts (moun ...

deer estate, these paths can be utilised to do an attractive circuit of the mountain to examine the sandstone cliffs and the picturesque lochs of Loch an Eion, Loch Coire an Ruadh-staic and Loch Coire Fionnaraich which surround the mountain and are frequented by some interesting wild birds. For strong walkers the mountain can be ascended with the neighbouring

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 An Ruadh-stac (892 metres) which lies two kilometres to the south. Although it is possible to start from Annat at the head of Upper Loch Torridon, Maol Cheann-dearg is usually ascended from Coulags on the A890 road in Glen Carron where it is possible to park in a disused gravel pit. The valley of the Fionn-amhainn is followed northerly passing the

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

bothy at Coire Fionnaraich, a fine shelter with a lone ash tree outside the front door. 500 metres further on a curious upstanding stone is encountered, this is the Clach nan Con-fionn (The Stone of Fingal’s Dog) where the legendary

Fionn mac Cumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of y ...

reputedly tethered his hounds while hunting. Another 500 metres further on a path leaves the valley and goes west to the top of the Bealach a' Choire Ghairbh from where the south east ridge can be followed over broken quartzite and awkward boulders to reach the summit. The summit has a very large cairn and has one of the best views from any Munro with 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 made ...

well seen to the west along with Beinn Bhàn and the Skye Cuillin to the south west.

References

* ''The Munros (SMC Guide)'', Donald Bennett et al., * ''100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains'', Ralph Storer,

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maol Cheann-Dearg Munros Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Northwest Highlands Torridon