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

- Height
- 945.7 m · 3,103 ft
- Prominence
- 591 m
- Grid reference
- NH 63570 02388
- Coordinates
- 57.09226, -4.25325
- County / area
- Highland
- OS Landranger
- 35
- OS Explorer
- OL56 402
- Summit feature
- cairn
- Key col
- NN410941 (355 m)
About Carn Dearg
Càrn Dearg is the highest point of the Monadh Liath, the range of hills north of the Spey. Its eastern flanks fall steeply into Glen Ballach, while northwards the Monadh Liath plateau runs on for many miles.
Newtonmore and Kingussie in the Spey valley are the closest settlements. The rocky ground here and on A' Chailleach sets the two apart from the rest of the range, which Cameron McNeish has characterised as sprawling and undistinguished.
Background written from facts in the Wikipedia article on Càrn Dearg, Monadh Liath (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
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- Sunset
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- Daylight
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- Civil twilight ends
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Computed astronomically for 57.092, -4.253. Plan your finish with the daylight safety planner.
Summit weather live
Loading forecast for the summit (946 m)…
Forecast adjusted to summit altitude. Weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0).
Finding the summit
The recorded summit point is cairn. On broad or flat summits the obvious cairn is not always the true high point.
- Survey method
- Leica RX1250
- Record revised
- 27-Jul-15
- Drop measured from
- NN410941 · 355 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.
The Carn Dearg group
6 other listed summits sit in the same prominence group, with Carn Dearg as the independent hill at its head.
| Summit | Height | Drop |
|---|---|---|
| Carn Ban | 942 m | 57 m |
| A' Chailleach | 929 m | 108 m |
| Geal Charn | 926 m | 101 m |
| Carn Dearg SE Top | 924 m | 18 m |
| Carn Sgulain | 920 m | 72 m |
| Carn Ballach (SW Top) | 920 m | 49 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
| Peak | Height | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Carn Dearg SE Top | 923.7 m | 0.7 km |
| Carn Ban | 942.3 m | 0.9 km |
| Carn Ballach (SW Top) | 919.8 m | 2.2 km |
| Creag Liath | 743.5 m | 3.2 km |
| A' Chailleach | 929.3 m | 4.9 km |
| Carn Sgulain | 920.3 m | 5.8 km |