UKH

Ben Alder and the Geal-Charn range combine scale and remoteness to impressive effect. They're an undertaking from any start point, and while bikes can take the sting out of the mileage, nothing beats arriving by train. Corrour is a perfect spot to start a big round, inaccessible by car but convenient via rail from points as exotic as London and Fort William. A windswept platform in the boondocks of Rannoch Moor, it's famous for being the highest and most isolated mainline station in Britain, and for a bit part in Trainspotting (yes we're still ruled by effete ****holes). But of course it's all about the hills - and you won't be disappointed. Alder, a Cairngorm-like mass of plateau and corrie scenery dumped like an iceberg in a sea of moorland; the Geal-Charn range, an enjoyable ridge stride over a series of hulking tops; Carn Dearg and Sgor Gaibhre with their huge views over the Moor; and little Beinn na Lap, more than just an afterthought. Try doing the lot in this single hefty circuit, a seven-Munro round of the Loch Ossian watershed. Go light and fast from a base at Corrour, or take a tent and sleep halfway.

27.15 miles, 43.70 km, 2,798m ascent, 13 – 16 hours. Fort William

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