The Devil's Point

About The Devil's Point

Standing as a sentinel over the southern entrance to the Lairig Ghru, this shapely Munro offers one of the most dramatic profiles in the Cairngorms. Its steep eastern face drops precipitously into Glen Dee, providing a spectacular contrast to the vast, plateau-like terrain of its higher neighbour, Cairn Toul.

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Did You Know?

• •The mountain's original Gaelic name is Bod an Deamhain, which translates literally as 'The Demon's Penis'. The current English name was coined during a visit by Queen Victoria in 1859; when she asked her ghillie, John Brown, for the name of the peak, he provided the more polite 'Devil’s Point' to avoid royal embarrassment.
• •It is most commonly approached from the Linn of Dee via a long trek through Glen Lui. The hill sits directly above Corrour Bothy, one of Scotland’s most famous mountain shelters, making it a popular base for those tackling the peak alongside Cairn Toul and Sgor an Lochain Uaine.
• •From the summit, you get a peerless perspective of the Lairig Ghru, the great glacial trench that bisects the Cairngorm plateau. Looking east across the pass, the massive granite bulk of Ben Macdui dominates the skyline, while to the south, the view opens up down the length of Glen Dee toward the hills of Atholl.
• •Despite its formidable, pointed appearance from the glen floor, the summit is actually the southern tip of a high-altitude plateau. Once the initial steep ascent from the bothy is conquered, the terrain levels out significantly as it connects to the col leading toward the higher peaks of the massif.
• •Given that the approach from the nearest road involves a fifteen-mile round trip, many walkers find the most 'devilish' aspect of the hill isn't the climb itself, but the long, soul-searching march back through Glen Lui at the end of the day.