Scotland · Cairngorms National Park

Carn Ballach (SW Top)

Munro TopSimmMurdo

2 classifications here — Simm and Murdo — belong to lists OpenFell holds only part of, so they have no list page. See how far the coverage goes.

Height
919.8 m · 3,018 ft
Grid reference
NH 64355 04463
Coordinates
57.11112, -4.24143
County / area
Highland
OS Landranger
35
OS Explorer
OL56 402
Summit feature
a few rocks
Key col
NH 6363 0384 (871.2 m)

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 57.111, -4.241. Plan your finish with the daylight safety planner.

Summit weather live

Loading forecast for the summit (920 m)…

Forecast adjusted to summit altitude. Weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0).

Finding the summit

Surveyor's note

cairn 75m N at NH 64354 04537 is 20cm lower.

The recorded summit point is a few rocks. That distinction matters on broad or flat tops, where the obvious cairn is not always the true high point.

Survey method
Leica RX1250
Record revised
24-Dec-20
Drop measured from
NH 6363 0384 · 871.2 m

Classification history: summit relocated 75m S in July 2014; this is now the Munro Top.

Survey notes are field observations recorded in the Database of British & Irish Hills (v18.3, CC BY 4.0) by the hill-surveying community.

Which hill this one belongs to

Carn Ballach (SW Top) is not counted as an independent hill in its own right. In prominence terms it belongs to Carn Dearg (946 m) — the nearest Marilyn you can reach from this summit without first dropping below its key col, 871 m.

Grouping is by prominence alone: a summit belongs to the nearest higher Marilyn it connects to without a deeper intervening col. Over a large massif that can gather hills no one would walk in a single day, and which few would describe as parts of the same mountain — it is a measure of independence, not a suggested route.

Nearest listed peaks

PeakHeightDistance
Carn Ban 942.3 m 1.7 km
Carn Dearg 945.7 m 2.2 km
Carn Dearg SE Top 923.7 m 2.8 km
A' Chailleach 929.3 m 3.8 km
Carn Sgulain 920.3 m 4.2 km
Creag Liath 743.5 m 4.2 km