Luinne Beinn and Meall Buidhe from Inverie

North-west of Fort William, the mainland peninsula of Knoydart overlooks the Sound of Sleat towards Skye. No roads reach this rugged land, therefore access is either via one of the long paths from Kinlochhourn or Glendessary to the east or via the passenger ferry sailing from Mallaig (see Western Isles Cruises).

There is a thriving community in Knoydart, with most of the activity based in Inverie. From camping to bunkhouse and guest house, there are various places to stay, there's a shop, café and post office along with the Old Forge Inn - Britain's remotest pub !

More information on places to stay and eat can be found on the VisitKnoydart website.

From the pier at Inverie, head south-east down the main street, pass the pub, houses, café and converted church to a right-of-way sign pointing to Barisdale.

The track pulls away from the coastline , travels around the Knoydart Foundation and begins to climb through woodland and forestry. Exiting the woodland through a gate, the track drops slightly and turns around and below a mound with a monument .

Over the next 7km, the track travels up Gleann an Dubh-Lochain, passing Loch an Dubh-Lochain and climbs up to the saddle of Màm Barrisdale.

Approaching the highest point on the pass , look to the right (east) and you should see a vague path heading uphill. Follow this as it climbs a few metres then meets with an intermittent line of old iron fenceposts crossing soggy ground.

Follow a damp path aside the fence posts for a distance of around 500m, then turn east and aim directly up the grass covered slopes above. Climbing around 100m, the level ground to the south of Bachd Mhic an Tosaich is gained, across which a path travels.

Now on the northern shoulder of Luinne Bheinn, the path, sticking to the crest, is for the most part straightforward to follow, with only one short section of boulderfield encountered on the way. The path continues to the summit of Luinne Bheinn , which has two cairns and cracking views, particularly that northwards over Barrisdale Bay and beyond.

Leave Luinne Bheinn's summit behind and continue along its crest following a worn path. Over, or perhaps around its subsidiary eastern top, drop down following the path to a fairly flat grass-covered area at around c850m .

The path aims towards Màm Unndalain, so instead, turn south-west away from the path and desend on wet, grass-covered and occasionally steep ground to pick up some old iron fence posts at the next col, Bealach a' Choire Odhair .

A path forms which continues along the wide undulating ridgeline ahead, by-passing the minor summits of Meall Coire na Gaoithe'n Ear on its eastern side and Druim Leac a'Shith on its western side. Beyond these tops, the path drops to another col, Bealach Ile Coire , around where some interesting rock strata can be found.

The climb onto Meall Buidhe is ahead, steep in places, but generally straightforward to clamber up with the path twisting around any difficulties. The cairn on Meall Buidhe's south-east top is reached, from where a turn westwards tracing a path across a wide grass-covered plateau aims towards Meall Buidhe's main summit with its small untidy cairn.

The return along Meall Buidhe's western shoulder towards Inverie gives a wonderful ahead, though for the easiest terrain, at some point a drop into Gleann Meadail will need to be made to avoid boggy terrain.

From Meall Buidhe's summit, hike westwards following a very obvious path along the hill's crest. While losing around 200m, the path drops to a bealach, beyond which a grassy rise leads to the minor summit on An t-Uiriollach .

Just under 2km on from An t-Uiriollach, a couple of options present themselves . Keeping to the crest is obvious enough tracing the line of Druim Righeanaich, but further down a bit of route finding while twisting and turning around crags leads to a very wet and unpleasant plod through soggy marsh back to the path by the River Inverie. Instead, an easier option is to leave the crest around 2km west of An t-Uiriollachand and turn to aim south-westwards down a grass-covered slope to meet with a track in Gleann Meadail. This track crosses the Allt Gleann Meadail , passes Druim Bothy then crosses the River Inverie to meet with the main track in Gleann an Dubh-Lochain for a return back to Inverie.

Beinn Bhuidhe is a long-ridged Corbett hill on the opposite side of Glenann Meadail from Meall Buidhe. Bagging this hill's summit could be made as a detour from Meall Buidhe which adds in around 450m of ascent, or, as described below, done on its own as a there-and-back hike from Inverie.

From Inverie, follow the route above to the monument , then turn down the track to cross the Inverie River and head eastwards towards Gleann Meadail, passing Druim Bothy. After crossing the Allt Gleann Meadail , keep on the track as it traces the northern bank of the burn through the glen for around 2km.

At a height of around 250m , cross the cross the Allt Gleann Meadail onto its southern bank at a suitable point (may be difficult or even impossible in spate) and begin to strike uphill heading southwards. Faint paths are found as a burn with some interesting gorges is followed up steep slopes to the Màm Uchd pass between Beinn Bhuidhe and Meall Bhasiter.

Turn west and follow the crest towards the minor summit of Sgùrr an t-Sagairt . Some crags are confronted on the way, all easily avoided. The largest of the crags can be skirted around by going left (south). Beinn Bhuidhe's summit has a small trig point.