I hiked up Meall Nan Tarmachan last July with an eye on bagging the whole Tarmachan ridge, an apparently spectacular hike with beautiful scenery and three munro tops in addition to the Munro.
But the weather wasn’t playing ball when I bagged the Munro and so we decided to come back down the way we came instead of taking in the 3 Munro tops of the ridge line.
However, I knew I wanted to get the ridge. So on a sunny solo hiking break in Scotland, I headed back to repeat the Munro and complete the ridge line. Here’s how that hike went based on data from my Garmin.
| Hike date | 10th April 2025 |
| Weather conditions | Sunny and mild, quite windy |
| Distance hiked | 15.60km |
| Total time | 4.5 hours (moving time 4 hours 10 mins) |
| Elevation gain total | 1,026m |
| Terrain | Mostly clear paths, some rocky parts. Grassy/boggy on descent. |
| Hiked with | Solo hike |
Tarmachan Ridge Route Map
Here’s the AllTrails map showing the route I took:Short Video
Here’s the short video I took:@staceyhikes Meall nan Tarmachan and the Tarmachan Ridge. What a day. ⛰️ Meall Nan Tarmachan (munro) ⛰️ Meall Garbh (munro top) ⛰️ Beinn Nan Eachan (top) ⛰️ Creag na Caillich (top). Meall Nan Tarmachan is a repeat Munro for me. But when I hiked up it last July, there was no visibility at the top and it was rather miserable. As such, there seemed very little point in continuing around the ridge which is known for its exceptional views, and instead we descended via the same route we had hiked up. I’ve always wanted to do the full ridge and decided to head back for a solo hike while the weather has been so incredible in Scotland this week. This was well worth doing, with incredible views the whole day long and some absolutely beautiful summits across the day. I love the Ben Lawers area. It’s just such a beautiful place to hike. #SoloHike #SoloHiking #ScotlandTravel #ScotlandHiking #HikingUK #HikeTok #munrobagging #WalkItOff #GetOutside #AdventureTime #solohiker ♬ оригинальный звук – ☭ А̷л̷е̷к̷с̷а̷н̷д̷р̷ ☭
It saw me park in the Ben Lawers nature reserve car park (///shams.contrived.dolphins on What3Words) where you can park for £4/day or free if you’re a National Trust member. Now the car park is at over 400m of elevation. But make no mistake, with the hike up the first mountain and the ups and downs of the ridge, you’ll still clock up over 1,000m of elevation gain across the Tarmachan Ridge circular hike.
Most people getting out of their cars on that sunny morning were heading off in the direction Ben Lawers and only a handful of people appeared to be heading off in the opposite direction towards Meall Nan Tarmachan.
The paths really are impeccably well maintained through the majority of the Ben Lawers Nature Reserve.
Within minutes of getting out of the car park, looking behind you presents this incredible view of Loch Tay:
It’s an easy to follow path but steep in parts, which leads up to a small summit unnamed summit (923m) first. This summit is marked on the map and you need to go over it. You’ll reach it at just over 3km into your hike.
Once over this little summit you’ll see this stile:
Beyond is the final ascent to Meall nan Tarmachan, the only Munro on today’s 4 summit haul.
Photos never quite do it justice but this looks menacingly steep from this position.
But it’s quite short and in less than a kilometre you’ll be on the summit of Meall Nan Tarmachan.
Now, I had absolutely no views last time I was on this summit so I was utterly delighted to get these views this time:
The path continues off the summit of Meall Nan Tarmachan and you get an excellent view here of the Tarmachan Ridge ahead:
The first pointy summit you see immediately ahead is the first Munro top – Meall Garbh at 1,026m. As you can see, there’s a really clear path right to the summit here.
It’s such a pretty summit too – my favourite of the whole Tarmachan Ridge to be honest.
From here, you get exceptional views of what, for me, was the best part of the day – a short stretch of narrow ridgeline with 360 views:
As you can see, there’s no scrambling required here. It’s a ridge with a walking path but it is narrow.
The views back to Meall Garbh from here were gorgeous:
There’s some light touch scrambling on descent from this munro top to take you back down a little before you’ll follow the path up to your third summit of the day, Beinn Nan Eachan which is another Munro top at exactly 1,000m in height.
The paths continue to be really well maintained and remarkably easy to follow here. It’s a short descent from Beinn Nan Eachan and then you start heading towards the third Munro top of the day, Creag na Caillich at 916m.
Between Beinn Nan Eachan and Creag na Caillich there is a descent path so if you’re not bothered about the full ridge and want to shorten the hike, this is your last real opportunity to do so.
I continued onto Creag na Caillich and then we begin the descent.
The initial descent has an exposed path (no scrambling needed by care to be taken) around the side of a hill and then becomes a steep grassy descent at first.
This is where the paths become a little less clear. On initial descent there are easy to spot paths (in good conditions). But in reality, it’s not long until it begins to look a little pathless with “paths” running through boggy and grassy areas and often requiring stepping through long grass.
In good conditions, with care taken, it’s perfectly possible to keep in the right direction. But in low visibility or under snow cover, navigation could potentially be tricky here.
Soon enough though, you’ll reach the relatively flat track back to the car park. This hike ends with a fairly long old (5km or so) gradually descending track. It’s pleasant with lovely views but it will take a little while.
Does the Tarmachan Ridge require scrambling?
There’s some very light touch scrambling to get onto and off Meall Garbh in this direction and points on approach to the third summit when you may want to use your hands to steady you. There’s no graded scrambling here though.
If you’re not a fan of heights, parts of this may be uncomfortable.
How many munros are on the Tarmachan Ridge.
Just the one:
- Meall Nan Tarmachan at 1,043m in height
There are then also 3 Munro Tops:
- Meall Garbh (1,026m)
- Beinn Nan Eachan (1,000m)
- Creag na Caillich (916m)
It’s a gorgeous day out even if you are a tad disappointed that you don’t get at least one more Munro ticked off!!
Is the Tarmachan Ridge suitable for children?
Yes. I think it is. It will of course depend on your children and their hiking experience. Bear in mind that it’s a fairly long hike for little legs. But I saw children on this one and would have no qualms taking my 8 year old or 10 year old up here.
Is the Tarmachan Ridge Difficult?
Personally, I’d say it’s a moderate hike. It’s longer than some other hikes in the area and there is a fair old whack of elevation over the day. However, for a relatively fit person who is comfortable with 15km+ hikes, this will be one of the more straightforward Munro bagging outings they’re likely to undertake.
