Photographs, route description and map of Schiehallion and the Queen's View in the Southern Highlands of Scotland

Schiehallion ( 3547ft, 1083m )

Schiehallion lies between Loch Tay

and Loch Tummel

some 10 miles north of Aberfeldy.

The mountain is an isolated one

and has an almost perfectly conical shape

as viewed from the west.

Schiehallion is sometimes described

as the centre of Scotland.

Location: Perthshire
Map: OS Landranger 51 or 52 ( GR 753 557 )
Distance: 6 miles [10km]
Time: 4 hours
Terrain: path

Schiehallion is an elegant mountain that sits detached from its neighbours in lovely countryside between the great Loch Tay valley in the south and the Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel valley to the north. Its ascent is best started from the Forestry Commission Scotland pay-and-display car park and toilets at Braes of Foss, on the narrow road between Aberfeldy and Kinloch Rannoch.
At the entrance to the car park a plaque commemorates the fact that in 1774 the Astronomer Royal, Neil Maskelyne, used Schiehallion to illustrate the gravitational force of mountains and to calculate the density of the Earth.
The car park sits at an altilude of a little more than 300m, which means you don't climb the mountains full 1083m height.
This, together with Schiehallion's accessibility and the fact there is an excellent path up the east ridge, means its ascent is relatively straightforward. It is therefore a mountain that many can claim as their first Munro.
As with all peaks though, it shouldn't be underestimated, especially when the vagaries of the Scottish weather are taken into account.
The east side of the mountain is owned by the John Muir Trust and, an leaving the car park, there is information to this effect.
In recenl years the Trust has built a footpath on a slightly different and more sustainable line to enable the scar created on the hillside by the formcr route to regenerate. The new path is excellent and, while it may feel a bit over-engineered to some, it does allow for the easy passage of the large numbers who ascend this iconic hill.
There is no waymarking on the path and it stops short of the summit on stony ground which is followed past a number of old cairns to the ﬁnal highpoint and the splendid panorma it offers.
Return by the route of asccnt.