Beinn Bhuidhe Walking

Standing alone, in a slightly hard-to-get-at position in the hinterland behind Loch Fyne, itself not really the most accessible spot, Beinn Bhuidhe is often overlooked. In that sense it’s a good advert for Munro bagging, the discipline of a list encouraging people to visit places they might not otherwise get round to. Yet there’s a lot going for this unassuming Argyll peak too, from its knobbly summit ridge to its wide ranging views. It's a long approach on which a bike could be well used: however the round described here is on foot.

Ben Cruachan from the eastern top of Beinn Bhuidhe  © Dan Bailey - UKHillwalking.com
Ben Cruachan from the eastern top of Beinn Bhuidhe
Fetching Map

Detailed description

1
NN1935312779 Go back over the old bridge, then turn left onto a private tarmac road beside the river. This passes a couple of cottages, then passes through a brewery. Ahead on the west flank of the glen you'll see the scar of a new track winding down the spur of Newton Hill – this is part of the Merk Hydro Project, and worth noting for your return trip later. Continue on the glen road for a further 2km, passing a hideous modern estate house and going under the big pylon line, then crossing a bridge over the River Fyne to join the road on the other side of the river.

2
NN2146714915 Carry on up-glen past the houses of Glenfyne Lodge, soon passing a weir and bridge. Here the main vehicle road cuts right over the river: instead stay on the west bank to follow an older stony track. Pass a hydro scheme building and a large cattle shed, cross a pasture and then enter pretty mixed woodland, climbing with the sound of weirs and waterfalls in the river below to reach Inverchorachan, a locked (shame) bothy in a very pleasant location that feels far removed from the clutter of the lower glen.

3
NN2287018096 Pass through a gate on the main track, and immediately on your left is a gated turnoff onto a footpath: this is the standard route up Beinn Bhuidhe, but doesn't permit such a good round of the hill to be made. Instead continue on the glen track very briefly to cross a wooden bridge over a burn, then go left up grassy ground to the right of a bracken patch. A sketchy path now climbs steeply above the north side of the burn, at first following a fence. The path soon disappears into tussocky grass, so make for an apparent summit up on the right. The 'summit' proves to be false. Continue roughly north to a broad boggy shoulder overlooking upper Glen Fyne.
Heading for the east summit of Beinn Bhuidhe  © Dan Bailey - UKHillwalking.com
Heading for the east summit of Beinn Bhuidhe
© Dan Bailey - UKHillwalking.com, Aug 2017

4
NN2188219033 Aim for Beinn Bhuidhe's un-named northeastern top, spot height 901m on the map. Its knobbly skyline develops into ridge of sorts, weaving up through little schist outcrops with an airy feel but no difficulty. Marked with a small cairn, the grassy summit is a superb viewpoint. From here there's a rarely-seen perspective on the wild southern side of Ben Lui and Ben Oss, far across an expanse of grass-and-bog nothingness. Wouldn't some nice native forests bring life to these dour highland straths? The main peak of Beinn Bhuidhe has finally risen above the lower slopes to reveal itself as an interestingly mountainous thing.

5
NN2127519344 Descend SW, skirting a few mini crags, to a saddle on the ridge crest between the two peaks. Here pick up an actual path (for the first time in a while), which traverses the NW flank briefly to reach a higher little saddle, marked by a cairn where the main walker's route joins the crest. Continuing on this, the trail first hugs the edge of the steep southeast slope with a modest sense of exposure. This cheeky little traverse proves good fun, but soon pops out onto the ridge for a last short pull onto the summit, where you'll find a cairn-cum-windbreak and the stump of an old trig point.
The Crianlarich hills from Beinn Bhuidhe  © Dan Bailey - UKHillwalking.com
The Crianlarich hills from Beinn Bhuidhe
© Dan Bailey - UKHillwalking.com, Aug 2017

6
NN2035818707 Return whence you came down to the cairn at the trail junction, then follow the standard path very steeply down the mountain's southeast flank. This is very badly eroded, and needs a little care. Below this short slope the ground rolls out into knobbles and bogs, and the path can be a bit of a morass of mud. Stick with it only as far as the brand new vehicle track, which you soon intersect with.

7
NN2128018292 This track also doubles as a leat, capturing the burns that drain the corrie and channelling into a collecting pond. Aesthetically doubtful, already causing quite a bit of erosion mess, and no doubt a fair bit of damage to the local hydrology, the track does at least serve as a dry way home, and it'd be pig headed not to use it. Follow it downhill. The surface alternates between easy-going gravel and horrible foot-pounding chunks, and the angle is improbably steep at times, but it cuts a big corner off the return leg home. After a long descent the track climbs briefly onto a saddle at the back of Newton Hill, where the collecting pond has been dug. Just beyond this artificial lake the tail forks. Either choice will get you home but the right hand option has a gentler surface and a shallower angle. This descends the north side of the Merk Burn, then passes through a pine plantation to reach the floor of Glen Fyne west of the river.

8
NN2010814088 Follow the glen track between a pylon line and the River Fyne, passing through an active gravel pit (look out for heavy machinery) and on to a hydro power station. Here a tarmac road cuts left, along a water leat, then passes some site offices, to bring you back to the car park.

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