Carn Dearg Meadhonach

About Carn Dearg Meadhonach

This high, rocky Munro Top sits on the north-east shoulder of Carn Mor Dearg. Often overlooked by walkers focused on the CMD Arête, it offers some of the most dramatic, close-up perspectives of Ben Nevis’s North Face, specifically the sheer precipices of The Castle and Tower Ridge.

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Did You Know?

• •The name translates from Scottish Gaelic as the 'Middle Red Cairn,' identifying its position on the ridge between the lower Carn Dearg to the north-west and the higher Carn Mor Dearg to the south.
• •Though it stands at a formidable 1179 metres—significantly higher than any peak in England, Wales, or Ireland—it is classified as a Munro Top because it lacks the topographic prominence to be a primary Munro.
• •The summit provides a superb 'eye-level' vantage point for studying the North Face of Ben Nevis; from here, the deep cleft of Observatory Gully and the massive Orion Face are clearly visible across the corrie.
• •Most walkers visit this peak while following the long, steady ascent from the North Face car park at Torlundy, using it as the final milestone before the ridge narrows into the famous Carn Mor Dearg Arête.
• •The 'red' in the name refers to the local granite of the Ben Nevis massif which, when wet or under specific evening light, takes on a distinctively warm, ruddy hue compared to the grey schists of the surrounding Lochaber hills.
• •It serves as a final, relatively stable platform for a snack and a deep breath before the path narrows and the exposure of the CMD Arête begins in earnest.