Torridon
Richards Mountain Pages
I've separated Torridon from the rest of the Western Highlands, as it has quite distinct scenery.
The mountains in this region are large, and have plenty of space between them,
though you wouldn't notice that from the main road in.
To really appreciate it, you need to climb one of the peaks, and take a peek at what lies beyond.
Of these peaks, Liathach, Beinn Eighe, and Beinn Alligin are perhaps the most dominant, so I've given them their
own pages:
Behind these three giants, there lies a wilderness of flat ground studded with little lochans, and peaks that just
erupt from the surface. The first, and most splendid of these is Beinn Dearg. Its only a couple of feet short of the
magic 3000 foot height, and so gets much fewer visitors. The summit itself is guarded by a couple of sharp ridges, that
must be traversed to reach it.
Behind Kinlochewe, a forgotten little moorland peak gives an astounding view of Kinlochewe, and an equally impressive one of
Liathach (end on) and Beinn Eighe.
To the south of the region, there is a superb horseshoe. Best approached from Achnashellach station (three trains a
day each direction - none on Sunday), the walk around Beinn Liath Mhor, Sgorr Ruadh and for the very fit Fuar Tholl is
certainly a good days walk. The view at the top of this page was taken at the start of Beinn Liath Mor's long ridge, with its summit in the
background. The cairn is composed of that notoriously squeaky quartzite that caps the
torridonian sandstone of the region. The view below was taken from the upper slopes of Fuar
Tholl, looking across to Maol Chean Dearg.
Maol Chean Dearg looks impossibly steep when viewed from Torridon, yet around the back (as seen above) a spur leads from the col
(centre of picture), right to the summit, crossing first a band of sandstone, then one of quartzite. To its South (left above) is the scary
slope of An Ruadh Stac. Almost devoid of vegetation, this huge slab tilts at an angle that will make some happy, but most a little
nervous of the climb to its summit.
Finally, to the west of this lot, the sandstone ridge of Beinn Damph is a superb peak to introduce you to the splendours
of the region.
Geology
The high mountains of the region are composed of layers of a red sandtone (Torridonian) which is protected by a cap of
quartzite - its quite obvious in the view of the slopes of Liathach below. The surrounding sandstone has been weathered away.
To the North of the mountains, the scenery changes to flat ground
with lots of little lochs and the odd hill thrusting up. The hills are still sandstone, but the surrounding flat land is made
of Lewisian Gneiss. This scenery continues into Assynt, where spectacularly weird mountains
erupt from the otherwise flat landscape.
Settlements
Of the settlements in the area I have visited only two - Kinlochewe and Torridon, both of which I have found to be very
relaxing and friendly. Torridon has the better scenery (just), with lovelly views across the sea loch at dawn.
Don't expect things to run at the exact time that timetables stipulate in this region. The approach to
timekeeping is generally relaxed.
Transport
You can get as far as Achnashellach by train, from where it is possible to walk through the mountains to Torridon in a day.
Alternatively take the train to Achnasheen, and continue by postbus to Kinlochewe and eventually Torridon. Note that if the
train is late, the postbus no longer waits. The other alternative is to continue to Strathcarron, where a local bus runs
through to Torridon, tying up with the Applecross post bus. There is now a limited train service on Sundays, but post buses
still run only during the week.
Maps
You can buy the maps that cover this region, in association with Ordnance Survey, by using the links below:
back to NW Highlands