Cranstackie

About Cranstackie

Cranstackie rises west of Loch Eriboll and northeast of Foinaven in Sutherland, at the northwestern tip of the Highlands. Its summit ridge, like that of its smaller Corbett neighbour Beinn Spionnaidh to the northeast, is buried under massive blockfields and blockpiles of Cambrian sandstone, a quartz-arenite that is less sharp and less loose than the pure white quartzite found further south. Lower down, Lewisian gneiss basement carries grassy, mossy slopes that give easier going.

The pair present a steep escarpment on their western side, breached by a gap that ascents usually use, with a dip slope falling east. Early Ordnance Survey maps recorded the name as Crann Stachach, read as peaky or uneven hill of the tree, though crann here more likely means a horizontal beam; later maps anglicised it and called the meaning obscure, with a suggested Norse link through stac, a sharp hillock. The tor-stippled skyline is conspicuous from the main road to the west.

Background written from facts in the Wikipedia article on Cranstackie (CC BY-SA 4.0). Heights, prominence and grid references come from the Database of British & Irish Hills, not from Wikipedia.

Access rights here

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 58.457, -4.829. Plan your finish with the daylight safety planner.

Finding the summit

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

NC371490 · 241 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.

Nearest listed peaks