Meall nan Tarmachan

Meall nan Tarmachan, at 1,044 metres, is the only Munro summit on the striking Tarmachan ridge, a prominent landmark visible from Killin and one of the easiest Munros to reach on its own — though it's really just the starting point for one of the finest rocky ridge traverses in the Southern Highlands.

The route starts from the Ben Lawers car park, chargeable, following a well-made new path from the lower end that climbs gently with good views across to the Ben Lawers range before reaching a track. A signed path branches off, climbing over heather then grass through a deer fence gate, over a minor summit at 923 metres, before a short steep and stepped section leads to the final climb to the summit cairn — an excellent viewpoint over the Lawers range to the east, Loch Tay to the south, and the Glen Lyon ranges to the north, reached in remarkably little effort given the high starting point.

Many walkers treat this as job done and return the same way, but continuing the ridge south-west is highly recommended for those with good weather and confident navigation: the path descends gently, curving past a small lochan before a rougher climb to the tiny, sharply pointed summit of Meall Garbh, followed by a short scramble section on the descent — narrow with a steep drop to the right, though avoidable via a sheep trod slightly to the right for those preferring to skip it. The ridge continues over further tops including Beinn nan Eachan and Creag na Caillich before descending to rejoin the outward track near an old quarry.

The out-and-back route to the summit alone is a comfortable half-day; the full ridge traverse is around 12-14 kilometres with rougher, boggier terrain after leaving the main ridge, typically five to seven hours.

The Munro summit itself is genuinely one of the easiest in Scotland to reach, but the connecting ridge beyond demands careful navigation in poor visibility, given the complex, winding series of rocky features — this is a very different proposition from the straightforward first summit, and should be approached with full route-finding confidence.

The Ben Lawers car park is chargeable; there is no public transport directly to the start.