Cairn Toul

Height	1291m
Prominence	166m
Meaning	cairn of the barn
Lists	Munro, 4
Location	Cairngorms west of the Lairig Ghru, Speyside to the Great Glen
Grid Ref	NN963972
Lat/Lon	57.05429, -3.71033

Cairn Toul is a shapely Munro peak in the northern Cairngorms, its fine ridges rise above the western side of the Lairig Ghru and overlook corries and lochans. Being the fourth highest mountain in Scotland, the views from the summit are excellent and far.

Possibly one of the best routes up Cairn Toul is to hike from the Lairig Ghru up one of its spurs on its east-facing side. There are three to choose from (see main photo above) with some rock-scrambling on the south-eastern spur near the summit. One of these ascents can be done with either the Cairngorm 4000s or West of Lairig Ghru from Glenmore routes.

Being linked to other more modest peaks, hillwalkers are spoilt for route choice. With a bit of a detour, Cairn Toul could be fairly easily tagged onto routes approaching from Glen Feshie, Glen Einich or Linn of Dee.

Routes up Cairn Toul

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West of Lairig Ghru from Glenmore

West of the Lairig Ghru, huge cliffs rise to vast plateaux and some of the highest peaks in the land, Braeriach, Cairn Toul and Sgor an Lochain Uaine. Fine paths lead in from Glenmore and Coylumbridge and with the lowest point on the ridges between the Munro summits being above 1100m, the views are quite superb, particularly from Braeriach. Peaks : 3 Munros Ascent : 1850m (6070ft) Distance : 28km (17m) Time : 10hr

Cairngorm 4000s
	The vast plateaux of the Cairngorms in Scotland's eastern highlands rise above huge cliffs and dark corries. On the plateaux are five of the UK's mountains over 4000ft including Ben Macdui, Braeriach, Cairn Toul and Cairngorm and these can be bagged in one circular route from Glenmore. Peaks : 5 Munros Ascent : 2250m (7380ft) Distance : 28km (17m) Time : 10:45hr

Nearby hills and mountains

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