Mòruisg is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

mountain situated in the Glencarron and Glenuig Forest, 10 kilometres south west of the village of

Achnasheen Achnasheen ( Gaelic ''Achadh na Sìne'') is a small village in Ross-shire in the Highland council area of Scotland. The village is situated on the River Bran at the junction of two roads built by Thomas Telford. Despite the size of the village ...

in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

council area.

Overview

The hill reaches a height of 928 metres (3044 feet) and is the most easily accessible of the Glen Carron

Munros 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 ...

, being situated just three kilometres from the A890 road which runs through the glen. Its

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...

name translates as ''“Big Water”'' which is slightly unusual as the only sheets of water on the mountain are two small

loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spelling ...

s in the corries to the north of the mountain.

Geography

Mòruisg is a mountain that is often referred to in disparaging tones by guide book writers, with the SMC Munros Guide calling it ''“not a very exciting mountain”''. However to the north and south are fine corries which provide good winter routes. The northern corrie of Corrie na Glas-lic holds the aforementioned lochs of Loch Cnoc na Mointeich and Loch Coireag nan Mang. Moruisg received something a boost in 1981 when the adjoining mountain of Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean, 2.5 km to the south west, was elevated to Munro status thus making a more interesting circular walk for Munro baggers. This walk goes along the rim of the fine corrie of Coire Toll nan Bian (see picture) which stands between the two mountains. Mòruisg is a long, steep sided mountain with a flat extensive summit plateau, the level top has many minor bumps and cairns and it can be difficult to ascertain the highest point, especially in mist. Its north and western slopes descend steeply to Glen Carron, its southern flanks are precipitous as they fall the valley of the Allt a’ Chonais which contains the track to Glenuaig Lodge. To the south west is a ridge that skirts Coire Toll nam Bian and connects to Sgurr nan Ceannaichean. The northern corries look out over featureless moorland which descends towards

. To the east of the highest point the plateau undulates, going over several minor tops before culminating in the outlying top of

Càrn Gorm Càrn Gorm is a mountain in the Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands, 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, Per ...

(875 metres) which is marked by an OS

trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they ...

Ascents

The direct ascent of Mòruisg starts on the A890 road in Glen Carron at a parking spot one kilometre west of Loch Sgamhain at grid reference . After crossing the River Carron by the footbridge it is a steep climb of almost 800 metres to reach the summit through heather and scree. Almost all ascents of Mòruisg are combined with the neighbouring Munro of Sgurr nan Ceannaichean. Approaches are possible from the south using well graded stalkers' paths; one of these leaves the valley of the Allt a’ Chonais and climbs Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean first before continuing to Mòruisg. Another path starts at Glenuaig Lodge and climbs the precipitous southern slopes direct to the mountains summit.

View

The mountain is a fine viewpoint being surrounded by deep glens it has a sizeable

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

of 594 metres. The highlights of the view from the summit are the remote mountains to the north of

Loch Monar Loch Monar is a freshwater loch situated at the head of Glen Strathfarrar, in the West Highlands of Scotland. Since the 1960s, it has been dammed as part of the Affric-Beauly hydro-electric power scheme. The loch is fed by a number of small burn ...

and the rest of the Glen Carron mountains to the west.

References

* ''The Munros'', Donald Bennett et al., Scottish Mountaineering Trust, * ''The High Mountains of Britain and Ireland'', Irvine Butterfield, * ''Hamish’s Mountain Walk'', Hamish Brown, {{DEFAULTSORT:Moruisg Munros Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Northwest Highlands