Walkhighlands

I’m never going to compleat the Munros. But I would like to give myself a target of doing all the Munros in the Cairngorms. And I’ve made reasonable progress and loving it. But what should I include in my target? I’ve seen different definitions - eg Walkhighlands includes Ben Alder but SMC book has a much tighter group in its Cairngorms section. Any thoughts ? Thanks !

If it were me, I'd count anything in the main Cairngorm range east and south of the A9, so from Glen Feshie in the west to Ben Avon/Beinn a Bhuird in the east, south of Aviemore, and north of Braemar/Glen Geldie. I think putting Ben Alder in the Cairngorms is a bit of a stretch, given it is well west of the Drummochter pass and well separated from the main Cairngorms by three passes and a significant distance, although I think one of my Munro books does include it, admittedly it has a similar profile to a Cairngorm mountain (big and bulky with a high plateau).

Hi,

The region part of walkhighlands might include Ben Alder but it does not actually fall inside the national park boundary.

You can find the boundary on google maps, and it is also displayed as a yellow line on some of the maps in the gps planner part of this site.

My wee bible I had to aid the finding of the hills and used when getting around the Munros...a bit back in time heights in feet and distances in miles etc.
The Munros table list of the Cairngorms as it was then....since then Carn Cloich-mhuillin, Meal Dubhag,Carn Ban Mor and Geal Charn have been taken off the list.

Not easy to find a commonly accepted definition. East of the A9 seems topographically reasonable, The national park includes the Monadhliath and West Drumochter hills. In Munros Tables Sections 6, 7 & 8 cover most of the hills E of A9, but the east Drumochter hills are in Section 5 (and the Monadhliath are in Section 9 with Meagaidh and neighbours). Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairngorms#Geography has a much narrower definition, confining them to north of the Dee and east of Glen Feshie.

It would be wrong not to do Ben Alder whether it's in the Cairngorms or not.
The A9 makes a good border line though.
All the best.

gaffr wrote:My wee bible I had to aid the finding of the hills and used when getting around the Munros...a bit back in time heights in feet and distances in miles etc.
The Munros table list of the Cairngorms as it was then....since then Carn Cloich-mhuillin, Meal Dubhag,Carn Ban Mor and Geal Charn have been taken off the list.

Scan_20190412 (640x463) (2).jpg

Yes got to be The Munro Tables although I don't have copy as old as that ☺️

Thanks for all the advice. I think for my goal I’ll go with all Ms east of the A9, which gives us 13 to go - some long ones ! We do venture elsewhere too, I particularly love Assynt and the far North. But the Cairngorms are nearer for access and in my childhood home patch. Hope to see you on the hills !

I originally set a target of all east of the A93. Then it became everything east of the A9. Then it was south of the Great Glen. Before long I realised I'd probably do them all. Only problem was the last ones were all a long way from Edinburgh and every trip was a 3 or 4 hour drive. So it would be sensible to keep some nearer hills for days when you can't face the long drive.

By restricting yourself to the Cairngorms you'll miss some wonderful hills in the west.