An Teallach Ridge

An Teallach's ridge traverse is among the finest and most serious mountain days in Britain, contesting the title of best scramble on the mainland alongside Liathach and Aonach Eagach — a spectacular, pinnacled sandstone crest encircling the monumental cirque of Coire Toll an Lochain, with two Munro summits, Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill and Sgùrr Fiona, along the way.

The route starts from a large layby on the A832 around 250 metres east of the Dundonnell Hotel. A path turns off just before a pair of bungalows, climbing behind them through a gate and up onto the ridge of Meall Garbh — boggy in places, with an older path preferable to a clearer but wetter alternative nearby. The ridge is followed, clockwise, over Sàil Liath's 954-metre summit, where a brief, airy stretch of walking leads to the notorious Bad Step — a rock obstacle that can be bypassed to the left, but which experienced scramblers tackle directly via two short, technical pitches, roping up if in any doubt.

Beyond, the route climbs to a col paved with flat sandstone slabs before a steep scree and boulder ridge leads to the trig point on Bidein a' Ghlas Thuill, the higher of the two Munros at 1,062 metres — the view south-west to Sgùrr Fiona and the Corrag Bhuidhe pinnacles, framing the void of Coire Toll an Lochain, is widely regarded as the single most impressive sight in Scottish mountaineering. The ridge continues over Sgùrr Fiona before reaching the foot of Lord Berkeley's Seat, a fearsome, overhanging pinnacle reputedly used by its eponymous lord for a smoke with his legs dangling over the drop. Beyond lies the crux of the whole traverse: the Corrag Bhuidhe pinnacles, a serious Grade 3 scramble taken directly, with an easier though still exposed bypass path available on the western flank for those wanting to avoid the hardest climbing.

The final section over Glas Mheall Liath involves further scrambling before a long, rough, pathless descent — boggy lower down — eventually reaching the stalkers' path between Corrie Hallie and Shenavall, followed back to the A832, a few kilometres south of the starting layby.

For those content with just the two Munro summits rather than the full pinnacled traverse, a simpler there-and-back route retraces the ascent line, avoiding the technical scrambling entirely — a considerably easier, if less dramatic, day.

This is committing, serious mountain terrain: the full ridge traverse demands genuine scrambling competence, a confident head for heights, and ideally rope and a scrambling rack for the hardest sections — the mountain claims regular Mountain Rescue callouts from parties who venture beyond their ability on the pinnacles, and this should not be attempted without prior experience of similarly graded ground.

The A832 layby at Dundonnell is free; an infrequent Westerbus service links Dundonnell to Inverness, Gairloch, and Ullapool a few times a week.