Aonach Dubh

Rising as the westernmost of Glencoe’s Three Sisters, this dark, imposing spur of Bidean nam Bian offers a dramatic mountain experience. Its sheer northern face, featuring the inaccessible Ossian’s Cave, looms over the A82. Reaching the summit plateau reveals a stark, rocky environment with commanding views down the glen toward Loch Achtriochtan.

• •The name is Gaelic for 'Black Ridge', referring to the dark rhyolite cliffs that dominate its northern aspect and appear near-black when wet or in shadow.
• •The hill is famous for Ossian’s Cave, a high, dark slit on the northern precipice. Legend names it the birthplace of the third-century poet Ossian, though it is actually a shallow recess reachable only by experienced rock climbers.
• •Its northern buttresses are a historic playground for climbers; the popular 'Dinner-time Buttress' earned its name because it was considered a short enough outing to be completed before returning for an evening meal.
• •The summit offers a spectacular, bird's-eye perspective of the jagged Aonach Eagach ridge across the valley and the sharp peak of Sgùrr na h-Ulaidh to the west.
• •It remains a common sight to see visitors at the base of the hill squinting at the cliffs, attempting to find a non-existent footpath to the cave entrance several hundred feet up a vertical wall.