UKH

Thinking of doing the White Mounth munros over 2 days (Sunday/Monday) with a wild camp somewhere on the way around. My question is as I will be parked up for 2 days do I need to buy 2 tickets, have never been to this area before and not sure what to do about paying for the parking so any advise including prices would be welcomb.

In reply to Russell Lovett:

I don’t know about the car-parking tickets, but have seen pics of the car park today, on BBC Scotland news website and it was completely full with cars parking way along the verges.

You might want to get there super early.

In reply to Sealwife:

Was thinking of getting there late, not even leaving Newcastle upon Tyne til 9am hoping the crowds will be gone by the time I get to the car park. 

In reply to Russell Lovett:

Parking was £4 (cash only) per day, didn't see any option to pay for multiple days in advance, but plenty were leaving vehicles over the weekend, and the warden was on site, so i assume arrangements were made by some. 

In reply to Russell Lovett: That particular  car park gets super busy and it’s a Scottish bank holiday weekend this weekend. You’ll need cash to pay for the parking. I suspect you’ll be okay just paying for the Sunday and then offering to pay for the Monday on your return. There’s a Parking warden on site during the day. My recommendation would be to take a bike and park lower down the valley near Ballater and cycle in to avoid the parking chaos. Leave your bike locked up somewhere.

Last Sunday we were leaving the car park about 3pm and it was virtually gridlocked with cars double parked along the road and passing places full of parked cars, with people still driving up the road towards Spittal of Glen Muick. 

In reply to shantaram:

Did,nt realise it was a bank holiday in Scotland this weekend. Looks like I'm going to need a plan B. Somewhere less popular looks on the cards. 

In reply to Russell Lovett:

Plan B could be to start from the Glen Doll side.

In reply to Jack Frost:

Sadly, that is likely to be mobbed as well. How about somewhere that is less of a honeypot? Ben Alder?

In reply to Russell Lovett:

There's a picture of yesterday's parking situation in this report:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-53608672

Changed days from when I started my hillgoing in that area almost 40 years ago - it was a quiet and free car park then.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

I can remember it being full & overflowing on summer weekends in the 1980s, but also being the only car in the carpark midweek

In reply to Doug:

That's interesting - I think I might first have gone there in 1981 but was definitely there on a hot/sunny Saturday in August 1982 as Lochnagar was my first Munro and was climbed from the Spittal. Can't really remember but I'm sure the car park (smaller in those days?) was only middling busy that day whereas on a such a day now, even without Covid, it would probably be pretty much full. I lived in Aberdeen 1979-85 and, like you, can remember very quiet midweek trips - driving along the glen road without meeting another car and then finding only one or two in the car park.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

I went in January this year. Midweek, 3 cars in the car park and had the Glas alt  bothy to myself for 2 nights. Two days of blue skies too.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

I lived in Aberdeen from late 1983 till  1991 although used to visit from Stirling before that, so we are both remembering a similar period. Wasn't always full at weekends in my memories, when was the car park enlarged ? don't think I've been there since the mid 90s

In reply to Doug:

Again similar here - I've been on Lochnagar and surrounds a few times in the past couple of decades but always from Invercauld or Auchallater. Last time at the Spittal appears to have been a standard circuit of the five Munros finishing with Lochnagar, weirdly exactly 26 years ago today, 1 August 1994. Back In the 1980s I can remember a very good dash up the Coyles of Muick from further down the glen - that was on a winter afternoon and was a race against daylight. Such things stay quite vivid and I can remember that much better than various of the Lochnagar days.

In reply to Russell Lovett:

I would steer well clear of any of the honeypot parking areas like the plague just now.  On a positive note, in the last 2 weeks I had a couple of days out in the the NW Highlands and a couple of days out in the Cairngorms (each of them Munro days) and I only bumped into a handful of folk in total with no problems ref parking.  Just after lock down I had a day out on 2 of my local Munros within the Loch Lomond NP and didn't meet a soul car to car when elsewhere within the NP police were having to turn folk back due to traffic chaos.