Among the biggest hills north of the Great Glen, A' Chralaig and Mullach Fraoch-choire are a grand high-level ridge walking traverse. Fans of challenging days might want to rope them into a larger round with neighbouring Sgurr nan Conbhairean, but the two-Munro standard route covered here gives you the best bit of the range in a more manageable hit, building to an airy finish on the narrow South Ridge of Mullach Fraoch-choire. This short pinnacled ridge provides some engaging scrambling - all avoidable in summer, when most walkers will opt instead for the very obvious (though still briefly quite exciting) flanking path. In winter this path can sometimes bank out, and if so it will feel hairy. In heavy snow cover or icy conditions the South Ridge is elevated from an exposed walk to a grade I climb, and there are times when non-mountaineers might sensibly opt not to go all the way.
Detailed description
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Difficulty: DifficultDistance: 8.82 miles (14.20 km)
Total ascent: 1,120m
Time: 6 – 7 hours (Walking)
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Additional Information
Start/Finish:Layby on A87 1km east of Cluanie Inn, NH089121
Nearest town:
Kyle of Lochalsh
Terrain:
Clear hill paths and easy ridge walking, with one short exposed section on the South Ridge of Mullach Fraoch-choire; climbing the pinnacles direct is an interesting grade 1 scramble, but this can be avoided via an airy flanking path. The return along An Caorainn Mor is boggy.
Seasonal variations:
Due to their height and inland position these big hills can hold a lot of snow early and late season. This is a tremendous winter round. In deep snow or icy conditions the South Ridge of Mullach Fraoch-choire is a grade I mountaineering route, and can be quite challenging - albeit short lived. Elsewhere the edges can often be heavily corniced. If there's a high avalanche risk in the Coire Odhar descent described here, or if the South Ridge has proved hard and you're not keen to reverse it, then it will be necessary to continue NW from Mullach Fraoch-choire before descending more easily into An Caorann Mor - thus entailing a longer day overall.
Weather and Hill Conditions: mwis: Northwest Highlands – Met Office: West Highlands
Public transport:
Citylink buses to Portree pass this way.
Guidebooks:
Scotland's Mountain Ridges (Cicerone)
Maps:
OS Explorer 414 (1:25,000), OS Landranger 33 (1:50,000) Directory Listings:
Find more Listings near this route Tourist info:
Cluanie (01320 340 238)
Further Routes
by Dan Bailey UKH
- East Ridge of Beinn a' Chaorainn and Beinn Teallach 21 Jan
- Meall na Teanga & Sron a' Choire Ghairbh - The Loch Lochy Munros 6 Nov, 2023
- Bynack More 19 Oct, 2023
- Beinn a' Mhuinidh 4 Oct, 2023
- Loch Ossian round - Seven Munros by Train 15 Sep, 2023
I remember one pleasant early spring day on these hills, following what I assumed were fox tracks along the South Ridge of Mullach Fraoch-choire and being puzzled as to what a fox would be doing at that height. I can't imagine the hunting would have been very good.
A very good day out.
If you’ve the energy is worth doing the short out and back to the North east top of Mullach Fraoch-choire. It’s a nice viewpoint and gives a different perspective on the route.
We also saw fox footprints last time
We did this route the opposite way round (heading first up the glen) and then saving the best (the ridge and summits) for later. We saw no foxes but quite a few midges left their 'footprints' on us on the top of the Mullach - that's a still day in August for you!
It’s quiet common to see fox prints in the snow at height along ridges; apparently they patrol the boundaries of their territory for signs of intrusion.
Interestingly I once saw a grey creature the size of a fox/ large cat at height on the northern ridge I of these hills dropping to Affric. I wasn’t close enough to ID but prints confirmed it to be canine rather than feline. Research at home suggested that it was likely a grey fox which were historically termed ‘Dodds’.
This looks excellent and has inspired me to build a longer multi-day Munro-ticking outing around it. Now to wait for the snow... :)