Region
North-West Highlands
The oldest rocks in Britain, the emptiest landscape in Europe, and mountains that look like nothing else in Scotland.
- Munros
- 43
- Corbetts
- 36
- Grahams
- 30
- Bothies
- 31
- Long-distance trails
- 1
- Wild swimming
- 3
- Gravel routes
- 4
- Highest peak
- Sgurr Mor (1108m)
The North-West Highlands are geologically ancient and visually unlike anywhere else in Scotland. The Torridonian sandstone mountains — Slioch, Beinn Alligin, Beinn Eighe, An Teallach — are 750 million years old and their profiles are completely different from the rounded Cairngorm plateau or the jagged Cuillin. They rise directly from sea level or from Lewisian gneiss moorland in freestanding towers and ridges that look almost architectural. An Teallach, the most celebrated of them, has a summit ridge of pinnacles that requires confident scrambling in dry conditions and genuine mountaineering skill in winter.
The landscape between the mountains matters as much as the summits. The flow country north of Inverness is the largest expanse of blanket bog in the world outside Siberia — treeless, flat, and strangely compelling. The coastal scenery around Torridon, Gairloch, and Assynt includes white-sand beaches that would look at home in the Caribbean if the water temperature were thirty degrees higher. In June and July, the combination of evening light at high latitude and clear Atlantic air produces photography conditions that professionals travel from across Europe to use.
There are no cities here and very few towns of any size. Ullapool is the biggest settlement — population around 1,500 — and it functions as the ferry terminal for the Outer Hebrides and the main resupply point for anyone heading further north or west. Torridon village and Kinlochewe give access to the mountains of the same names. Public transport is minimal outside the Inverness–Ullapool bus. A car or van is essentially required for independent access to most of the range.
Glens8 glen guides
All glens →Glen Affric
Ancient Caledonian pines, clear lochs and high Munros — the finest combination of forest and mountain in the Highlands.
Glen Shiel
The A87 to Skye cuts through a glen with five Munros on one side and a battlefield on the other — accessible, dramatic, and often overlooked.
Glen Cannich
A hydro-dammed glen west of Cannich — the reservoir drowned one of the northwest's finest wild glens, but the Munro ridge above the north shore remains remote and rarely crowded.
Glen Strathfarrar
Scotland's most restricted glen — a locked gate at Struy limits car access to specific hours, which has inadvertently preserved native pinewoods and four excellent Munros almost no one visits.
Glen Lichd
The foot-only approach to the south side of the Five Sisters — what the standard A87 viewpoint doesn't show you, and the classic through-route to Glen Affric via Camban bothy.
Glen Torridon
Torridonian sandstone and ancient quartzite — the oldest mountains in Britain and some of the finest walking in the northwest.
Glen Carron
The Lochcarron approach glen — a broad Highland valley with a railway, an A-road, and Munros on both sides.
Strath Glass
The Chisholm clan heartland, cleared of almost its entire population between 1801 and the 1830s — the broad strath you drive through to reach Glen Affric has a history worth knowing.
Hills43 Munros · 36 Corbetts · 30 Grahams
Sgurr Mor
1108m
Sgurr nan Clach Geala
1093m
Beinn Dearg
1084m
Sgurr a' Choire Ghlais
1083m
An Teallach - Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill
1062m
An Teallach - Sgurr Fiona
1058m
Liathach - Spidean a' Choire Leith
1054m
Sgurr a' Chaorachain
1053m
Sgurr Fhuar-thuill
1049m
Liathach - Mullach an Rathain
1023m
Long-distance trails
Bothies31 in this region
Wild swimming3 spots
Gravel cycling4 routes
Wild camping
Map
Hills (dark/mid green), bothies (brown), wild swimming (blue), dark sky (purple).
Getting there
Inverness
2 hr drive
Glasgow
4 hr drive
Edinburgh
4 hr drive
Guided support for North-West Highlands
If you'd prefer a guided experience, these operators run trips in this area.
Wilderness Scotland
Premium guided expeditions, all regions
Macs Adventure
Self-guided LDP specialists
Hillwalk Tours
Self-guided routes, luggage transfer
Absolute Escapes
Edinburgh-based independent operator
Affiliate links — disclosure
Our take
An Teallach's main ridge — the traverse from Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill to Sgurr Fiona via the Corrag Bhuidhe pinnacles — is one of the great mountain days in Scotland. It is not a walk. The pinnacles involve exposed scrambling on steep rock with significant drops, and in any other country would be graded as a technical climb. Bypass paths exist and are perfectly reasonable; the main ridge is for those who are genuinely comfortable on exposed scrambles. The approach from Dundonell is long — allow a full day.
Knoydart, technically in Lochaber but accessed most easily via Mallaig, is worth treating as part of a North-West Highlands trip. The MBA bothy circuit from Inverie — Sourlies, Barisdale, back to Inverie — takes three to four days and is one of the finest multi-day routes in Scotland. Carry everything you need; there are no shops after Inverie.
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