Sgor Dubh

About Sgor Dubh

A brooding Graham guarding the entrance to Glen Ey, Sgor Dubh is the 'Black Peak' that Munro-baggers usually ignore in their haste to reach bigger cairns. It offers a delightfully rocky profile and enough solitude to satisfy even the most antisocial hiker seeking a break from the crowds.

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Did You Know?

• •The name Sgor Dubh translates from Gaelic as 'Black Peak.' This refers to the dark, craggy northern slopes that stand out against the softer, heather-clad hills nearby.
• •The hill stands above Glen Ey, a valley once famously used as a hiding place by the 'Black Colonel' after the Battle of Culloden. You can still visit the 'Colonel's Bed,' a narrow rocky shelf in the river canyon below the hill's base.
• •From the summit, you gain an exceptional vantage point over the high Cairngorm giants. It provides a sense of scale that makes the distant 4,000-foot peaks look both magnificent and genuinely exhausting to contemplate.
• •Geologically, it marks a transition point in the landscape where the gentle glens of the south meet the rugged granite heart of the Highlands. The terrain shifts from rolling moorland to jagged rock in a surprisingly short distance.
• •Ascending involves a treacherous relationship with the local peat hags and knee-deep heather. It is nature’s way of checking if your waterproof boots are actually waterproof or if you just enjoy the rhythmic squelching sound of defeat.