Meall Garbh

About Meall Garbh

Rising from the remote Sutherland wilderness, this rugged shoulder of the Ben Klibreck massif offers a true sense of northern isolation. The terrain is characteristically tough, defined by pathless heather and weathered peat, but the position provides an exceptional vantage point over the vast, shimmering expanses of the Flow Country.

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Did You Know?

• •The name is derived from the Gaelic 'Meall', meaning a lumpy or rounded hill, and 'Garbh', meaning rough or rugged, an accurate reflection of the coarse gneiss and broken ground found across its slopes.
• •Though it is a subsidiary top of the higher Meall nan Con, reaching this summit requires navigating some of the most remote ground in the Highlands, far from the standard tourist tracks of the central belt.
• •The summit offers a clear, unobstructed line of sight to the north toward Ben Loyal, the 'Queen of Scottish Mountains', and the lone sentinel of Ben Hope rising above the peatlands.
• •This area of Sutherland is a vital stronghold for the golden eagle; the high, quiet ridges surrounding the hill provide ideal hunting grounds away from human disturbance.
• •In a landscape dominated by complex Gaelic descriptive names, 'Rough Round Hill' is a masterclass in Scottish understatement, omitting any mention of the legendary bog-hopping required to reach it.