Scotland
Little Glas Maol
972M
3189FT
About Little Glas Maol
Sitting on the eastern edge of the high Mounth plateau, this substantial Munro Top is often overlooked in favour of its parent, Glas Maol. It offers a more rugged character than the main summit, with stony slopes providing a dramatic vantage point over the deep, glacial trough of Caenlochan Glen.
Key Statistics
Rank
21st Highest in Region
Parent Range
Lochaber
Prominence
?
21m
Nearest Town
Delnamer
Geology
You are trekking over hard quartzite and fine-grained volcanic rocks. These durable materials were forged by heat and pressure to create the mountain's rugged foundation.
Classifications
Find It
OS Grid Reference
NO175759
Latitude
56.8671°N
Longitude
3.3549°W
Did You Know?
- •The name is derived from the Scottish Gaelic 'Glas Maol', meaning the grey-green bare hill. The 'Little' prefix serves to distinguish it from its 1,068-metre parent peak situated less than a kilometre to the west.
- •It occupies a prime position overlooking the Caenlochan National Nature Reserve. From the summit, the ground drops away sharply, providing a clear, plunging view into the head of Canness Glen and across to the neighbouring ridge of Monega Hill.
- •The hill is frequently visited as part of the 'Glenshee Six' circuit. While the main Glas Maol summit is a broad, relatively featureless dome, this eastern top feels much more like the edge of the world, marking where the high plateau finally breaks into the Angus glens.
- •The cliffs and screes below the summit are a known site for rare arctic-alpine flora. The base-rich rocks here support species that are rarely found elsewhere in the British Isles, surviving in the cold, damp microclimate of the eastern corries.
- •Naming a 972-metre peak 'Little' is a fine example of Highland understatement; it stands taller than almost every mountain in England and Wales, yet here it is relegated to the status of a secondary shoulder.