An Teallach is one of the British Isles most celebrated mountains; a series of peaks that occupy the imaginations of many hillgoers, including me. It has two Munro summits; Bidean a’ Ghlas Thuill and Sgurr Fiona, with Sgurr Fiona marginally the lower but also finer aesthetically. It is seen on the right of the photo above with its pinnacled neighbours Lord Berkeley’s Seat and Corrag Bhuidhe. An Teallach has seven subsidiary Munro Tops and the corries provide opportunities for winter climbing in particular. The mountain towers above the village of Dundonnell in the north west Highlands, on the northern edge of the Fisherfield wilderness – an ideal base – search and book accommodation here.
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An Teallach’s tops include the charismatic pinnacles of Corrag Buidhe and Lord Berkeley’s Seat, that, along with Sgurr Fiona, form one of the most jagged and iconic skylines in the Scottish mountains. These peaks are the high part of a ridge that bounds the very fine corrie Toll an Lochain on three sides. The traverse of the ridgeline above Toll an Lochain is amongst the finest hill walking and scrambling routes in Britain. To the north another corrie, Glas Tholl, is less frequented and less iconic and lies beneath Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill, Glas Mheall Liath and An Teallach’s northern most Munro top, Glas Mheall Mor.
The An Teallach Munros Bidean a’ Ghlas Thuill and Sgurr Fiona
Table of An Teallach Munro summits and tops
| DoBIHID | Mountain | Height | Classification | Image 1 | Image 2 | Image 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1003 | An Teallach - Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill | 1062m/3486ft | Munro | Context Image | Detail Image | Summit Image |
| 1004 | An Teallach - Sgurr Fiona | 1059m/3473ft | Munro | Context Image | Detail Image | Summit Image |
| 1005 | Corrag Bhuidhe | 1049m/3442ft | Munro Top | Context Image | Detail Image | Summit Image |
| 1006 | Lord Berkeley's Seat | 1032m/3386ft | Munro Top | Context Image | Detail Image | Summit Image |
| 1008 | Sgurr Creag an Eich | 1016m/3335ft | Munro Top | Context Image | Detail Image | Summit Image |
| 1013 | Glas Mheall Mor | 979m/3212ft | Munro Top | Context Image | Detail Image | |
| 1015 | Stob Cadha Gobhlach | 960m/3150ft | Munro Top | Context Image | Detail Image | Summit Image |
| 1016 | Glas Mheall Liath | 960m/3151ft | Munro Top | Context Image | Detail Image | Summit Image |
| 1017 | Sail Liath | 954m/3130ft | Munro Top | Context Image | Detail Image | Summit Image |
Adapted from The Database of British and Irish Hills (DoBIH) under CC BY 4.0
Explore An Teallach with the interactive map of the peaks, photos and indicative routes below. Click on a feature to see photos and more information; see a legend by toggling the side panel and switch layers on and off. View a larger map here. Please let me know what you think!
Interactive map of An Teallach including the Munro summits and tops, photos and indicative routes.
Important note: Routes on this map are provided as an indication only in good faith. They are approximate and indicative and should not be relied on for navigation or as a guarantee that any specific person will be capable of completing them. Read more here.
Climbing An Teallach from Corrie Hallie
The An Teallach peaks are most commonly approached from from the A832 road, either from Corrie Hallie or the village of Dundonnell a couple of miles to the north. From Corrie Hallie a track leads south up on to moorland east of An Teallach. A boggy moorland path to Shenavall bothy splits off high on the moorland and this gives access to the bouldery south eastern slopes of Sail Liath, An Teallach’s most southerly Munro top.
From the summit of Sail Liath the views ahead along the ridge to Stob Cadha Gobhlach and Sgurr Fiona, and across Toll an Lochain to Bidean a’ Ghlas Thuill, are superb. The ridge on to Stob Cadha Gobhlach and the bealach before Corrag Buidhe are straight forward enough – and a herd of wild goats may be encountered – but accessing the Munro summits by this route requires negotiation of the tricky section of ridge around Corrag Buidhe, guarded on its south side by a steep “bad step”. This can be avoided to the west on steep ground but is not recommended for non scramblers or in descent. This area has been the scene of a number of accidents. See the SMC’s Highland Scrambles North for a description of the best route in this area and also my account of the route in winter. The traverse of the Corrag Buidhe pinnacles and Lord Berkeley’s Seat provide an excellent scramble high above corrie Toll an Lochain with some exposed situations, though all the main difficulties can be by-passed on the west side.
Climbing An Teallach from Dundonnell
An approach of the north side of An Teallach from Dundonnell is popular for those wishing to ascend the Munro summits whilst avoiding the Corrag Bhuidhe scrambling. A decent path leads up the hill behind the village on to the nose of Meall Garbh flanked by Glas Mheall Mor, the north eastern top of An Teallach – a 979 metre prow standing tall above the village of Dundonnell. This path is an easy and popular access route to the Munro summit of Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill and a rough mountain path continues on to Sgurr Fiona to the south. This avoids all the main difficulties of the mountain, but it is a high and long route in wild, rough terrain, considering the retracing of steps back from Sgurr Fiona to Dundonnell.
Outlying Tops & Descent
For the keen, including those bagging the Munro tops along with the summits, there are some interesting outliers to the mountain. Sgurr Creag an Eich is perhaps the foremost of these, it juts out a kilometre west of the main ridge and provides a unique perspective on the main mountain and grand views into the heart of Fisherfield. It can be reached without great difficulty from the summit of Sgurr Fiona.
Glas Mheall Mor, overlooking Dundonnell, is isolated from the main mass of An Teallach lying over a kilometre north east of Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill. It is most easily reached before or after tackling the north ridge of Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill.
The east ridge of Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill leads to the top of Glas Mheall Liath. The ridge is enjoyable with avoidable scrambling and great views across Toll an Lochain to Sgurr Fiona, Lord Berkeley’s Seat and Corrag Buidhe. This route can be useful for descent. Just east of the summit of Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill deep gullies intersecting the ridge need careful avoidance. Once east of the steep ground below Bidein a’ Ghlas Thuill descent can be made either by dropping south steeply into corrie Toll an Lochain or by following the ridge to Glas Mheall Liath and continuing down to the east. Lower down painstaking negotiation of tier after tier of Torridonian sandstone is required (from experience). There is a path of sorts north north east down Coir’ a’ Ghiubhsachain back to the road 800 metres or so north of Corrie Hallie. Alternatively, there is a pathless cut through back to the Corrie Hallie track next to a prominent escarpment on the hill east of Coir’ a’ Ghiubhsachain. Beware the river crossing just before the track though!
An Teallach – summer and winter climbing
Rock climbing is relatively limited on An Teallach but there are many and varied winter climbs. These are detailed in the SMC’s Northern Highlands Central climbing guide.
View a single gallery of all An Teallach images
Discover and explore more through the links and articles below.
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Beinn Eighe – Ruadh-stac Mor and Spidean Coire nan Clach
Liathach – Spidean a’ Choire Leith and Mullach an Rathain
An Teallach
Ben Hope – the most northerly Munro
Foinaven and Arkle
