Carn Dearg

About Carn Dearg

Situated in the remote wilderness between Glen Roy and the upper Spey, this rounded Corbett offers a quiet, expansive experience. Its ascent involves navigating broad, heathery slopes and the occasional peat hag, eventually revealing a summit with commanding views across the Great Glen towards the rugged peaks of the Grey Corries.

Key Statistics

Find It

Did You Know?

• •Càrn Dearg translates from Scottish Gaelic as 'Red Cairn'. While a common name in the Highlands, here it likely refers to the iron-rich soil and the deep hues of the heather and grasses that cover its expansive, rounded shoulders.
• •The hill overlooks the famous 'Parallel Roads' of Glen Roy. These three distinct horizontal lines are not man-made tracks, but the ancient shorelines of a proglacial lake that existed around 11,500 years ago during the Loch Lomond Readvance.
• •The slopes of this hill were a site of scientific frustration for Charles Darwin; he spent a week in the glen below studying the 'Parallel Roads', mistakenly concluding they were marine in origin—an error he later called a 'gigantic blunder'.
• •From the summit cairn, walkers are rewarded with a clear, elevated perspective of the Ben Nevis massif to the south-west, alongside the neighbouring summits of Carn Macoul and the remote plateau of the Monadhliath.
• •With no fewer than four other significant hills sharing the name Càrn Dearg within a thirty-mile radius, navigating to the right mountain is often more difficult than navigating the mist on the summit.