Arkle
3 classifications here — Marilyn, HuMP and Simm — belong to lists OpenFell holds only part of, so they have no list page. See how far the coverage goes.
- Height
- 787 m · 2,582 ft
- Prominence
- 392 m
- Grid reference
- NC 30276 46167
- Coordinates
- 58.37106, -4.90364
- County / area
- Highland
- Region
- Durness to Loch Shin
- OS Landranger
- 9
- OS Explorer
- 445
- Summit feature
- cairn
- Key col
- NC336451 (395 m)
About Arkle
Arkle occupies the far north-west corner of the Scottish Highlands, in Sutherland. Along with its neighbour Foinaven it is built of pale Cambrian quartzite, deposited around 530 million years ago on an irregular floor of far older Lewisian gneiss.
The hill has an odd double afterlife. A painting of it by Prince Charles appeared in a set of five British Post Office stamps issued on 1 March 1994, and again as a commemorative label in a stamp book marking his 50th birthday in November that year. The Irish racehorse Arkle took its name from the mountain.
Background written from facts in the Wikipedia article on Arkle (Sutherland) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Heights, prominence and grid references come from the Database of British & Irish Hills, not from Wikipedia.
Access rights here
Yes Right to roam: Statutory right of responsible access to most land and inland water.
Yes Wild camping: Wild camping is broadly lawful under the 2003 Act.
General position for Scotland — local byelaws, seasonal restrictions and closures can override it. Full details: access rights in Scotland · check another location.
Daylight at this summit today
- Sunrise
- —
- Sunset
- —
- Daylight
- —
- Civil twilight ends
- —
Computed astronomically for 58.371, -4.904. Plan your finish with the daylight safety planner.
Summit weather live
Loading forecast for the summit (787 m)…
Forecast adjusted to summit altitude. Weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0).
Finding the summit
ground to 15m N and 5m W is of similar height and comprises loose stones and boulders.
The recorded summit point is cairn. That distinction matters on broad or flat tops, where the obvious cairn is not always the true high point.
- Survey method
- Abney level
- Record revised
- 19-Mar-13
- Drop measured from
- NC336451 · 395 m
Survey notes are field observations recorded in the Database of British & Irish Hills (v18.3, CC BY 4.0) by the hill-surveying community.
Long-distance paths past this hill
One waymarked long-distance route runs within 2.5 km of the summit — useful if you are linking this hill into a longer walk, or want a made path for the approach.
| Route | Total length | From summit |
|---|---|---|
| Cape Wrath Trail (Inchnadamph → Cape Wrath) | 87 km | 1.7 km |
Route lines © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); distance from the summit computed by OpenFell.
Nearest listed peaks
| Peak | Height | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Foinaven [Foinne Bhein] - Ganu Mor | 911.1 m | 4.7 km |
| Meall Horn | 776.7 m | 5.1 km |
| Ben Stack | 721 m | 5.1 km |
| Sabhal Beag | 730.4 m | 7.7 km |
| Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhughaill | 800.8 m | 8.9 km |
| Cranstackie | 801 m | 10.5 km |