Ben Hope

Ben Hope, at 927 metres, is the most northerly of all the Munros, rising as a fine isolated peak overlooking the moorlands and lochans of the Flow Country — a magnificent viewpoint and a grand introduction to the vast wilderness of Scotland's extreme north.

The route starts from a car park on the minor road up Strathmore, around three kilometres south of the head of Loch Hope, near the Dùn Dornaigil broch. A path, marked by a large sign reading "Way Up Ben Hope," heads directly uphill alongside the tumbling Allt na Caillich, steep, wet, and rocky in places at first. As the ascent continues, the gradient eases briefly before the path leaves the main stream and climbs steeply east once more, weaving a route to avoid crags, with great views up Strathmore as reward for the effort — mainly grass-covered slopes lead the rest of the way to the summit.

The plateau ends abruptly at the top, with an extremely steep and airy north ridge plummeting beyond between great walls of crags on each flank. There is no higher point nearer than Ben Klibreck, far to the south-east, and the view is one of vast, desolate wilderness dotted with lochans and isolated peaks, the sea beyond stretching away towards the Arctic — a Scotsman reviewer once called this "one of the best summit panoramas from any mountain."

An alternative, considerably more serious approach tackles the steep and challenging north ridge directly from the foot of Loch na Seilg — much of this offers extremely airy but reasonably straightforward scrambling, with a genuine "bad step" near the top that can be avoided to the east side via a stony gully.

The out-and-back route from Strathmore is typically four to six hours; the return can be varied by continuing along the escarpment of Leitir Mheuiseil south before descending beyond a fine waterfall above Alltnacaillich, rejoining the road a couple of kilometres from the start.

The standard path is steep, wet, and rocky in its lower half, and the exposed summit plateau and airy north ridge both demand full hillwalking competence — the isolated, exposed position of this mountain means weather can change rapidly with little shelter available.

Parking at Strathmore is free; there is no direct public transport, though Altnaharra and Tongue offer nearby accommodation bases.