Rock types
These are mainly made of a type of sandstone, known as Torridonian sandstone (see Geology of Great Britain), which over time has become eroded to produce the unique characteristics of the Torridon Hills. In geology, Torridonian describes a series of proterozoic arenaceous sedimentary rocks of Precambrian age. They are amongst the oldest rocks in Britain, and sit on yet older rocks, Lewisian gneiss. Some of the highest peaks, such as Beinn Eighe are crowned by white Cambrian quartzite, which gives those peaks a distinctive appearance. Some of the quartzite contains fossilized worm burrows and known as pipe rock. It is circa 500 million years old. The strata are largely horizontal, and have weathered into terraces on the mountains.
Each of the Torridon Hills sits very much apart from one another, and they are often likened to castles. They have steep terraced sides, and broken summit crests, riven into many pinnacles. There are numerous steep gullies running down the terraced sides from the peaks. The summit ridges provide excellent scrambling, and are popular with hillwalkers and mountaineers. However, like many ridge routes, there are few escape points, so once committed, the scrambler or hillwalker must complete the entire ridge before descent.
There are numerous other mountains outside the immediate area of Loch Torridon which have the same characteristics, such as An Teallach near Ullapool.
A Munro is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3,000 feet (914.4 m), and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles at 4,411 ft.
Ross is a region of Scotland. One of the provinces of Scotland from the 9th century, it gave its name to a later earldom and to the counties of Ross-shire and, later, Ross and Cromarty. The name Ross allegedly derives from a Gaelic word meaning "headland", perhaps a reference to the Black Isle. Another possible origin is the West Norse word for Orkney – Hrossey – meaning horse island; the area once belonged to the Norwegian earldom of Orkney. Ross is a historical comital region, perhaps predating the Mormaerdom of Ross. It is also a region used by the Kirk, with the Presbytery of Ross being part of the Synod of Ross, Sutherland and Caithness.
Beinn Alligin is one of the classic mountains of the Torridon region of Scotland, lying to the north of Loch Torridon, in the Highlands. The name Beinn Alligin is from the Scottish Gaelic, meaning Jewelled Hill. The mountain has two peaks of Munro status: Tom na Gruagaich to the south, and Sgùrr Mhòr at 986 metres (3,235 ft) to the north.
Liathach is a mountain in the Torridon Hills, in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It stands between Loch Torridon and the neighbouring mountain Beinn Eighe. The mountain is a ridge running east–west, with several peaks, and its upper half is made up of many steep rocky terraces. The highest peak is the Munro of Spidean a' Choire Lèith at 1,055 metres (3,461 ft) high. The other Munro peak is Mullach an Rathain at 1,024 metres (3,360 ft) high.
Beinn Eighe is a mountain massif in the Torridon area of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Lying south of Loch Maree, it forms a long ridge with many spurs and summits, two of which are classified as Munros: Ruadh-stac Mòr at 1,010 m (3,314 ft) and Spidean Coire nan Clach at 993 m (3,258 ft). Unlike most other hills in the area it has a cap of Cambrian basal quartzite which gives the peaks of Beinn Eighe a distinctive light colour. Its complex topography has made it popular with both hillwalkers and climbers and the national nature reserve on its northern side makes it an accessible mountain for all visitors.
Beinn Dearg is the fourth highest of the Torridon Hills in the highlands of Scotland. Beinn Dearg offers all the typical features of a Torridon hill, with steeply terraced rocky sides dissected by near vertical gullies. The summit ridge is an airy crest that offers some easy scrambling; alternatively this can be avoided by following a path that traverses the terraces on the southern side.
Carn Eige is a mountain in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Rising to 1,183 metres (3,881 ft) above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Scotland north of the Great Glen, the twelfth-highest in the British Isles, and, in terms of relative height, it is the second-tallest mountain in the British Isles after Ben Nevis. Carn Eige lies between Glen Affric and Loch Mullardoch, and is at the heart of a massif along with its twin peak, the 1,181-metre (3,875 ft) Mam Sodhail.
An Teallach is a mountain group in Wester Ross, in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It lies west of Dundonnell Forest, north of Loch na Sealga, and south of Little Loch Broom. Its highest peaks are the Munros of Bidean a' Ghlas Thuill at 1062 m, and Sgùrr Fiona at 1058 m.
Wester Ross is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to the west of the main watershed of Ross, thus forming the western half of the county of Ross and Cromarty. The southwesternmost part of Ross and Cromarty, Lochalsh, is not considered part of Wester Ross by the local tourist organisation, Visit Wester Ross, but is included within the definition used for the Wester Ross Biosphere Reserve.
Loch Torridon is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland in the Northwest Highlands. The loch was created by glacial processes and is in total around 15 miles (25 km) long. It has two sections: Upper Loch Torridon to landward, east of Rubha na h-Airde Ghlaise, at which point it joins Loch Sheildaig; and the main western section of Loch Torridon proper. Loch a' Chracaich and Loch Beag are small inlets on the southern shores of the outer Loch, which joins the Inner Sound between the headlands of Rubha na Fearna to the south and Red Point to the north.
Scotland is the most mountainous country in the United Kingdom. Scotland's mountain ranges can be divided in a roughly north to south direction into: the Scottish Highlands, the Central Belt and the Southern Uplands, the latter two primarily belonging to the Scottish Lowlands. The highlands eponymously contains the country's main mountain ranges, but hills and mountains are to be found south of these as well. The below lists are not exhaustive; there are countless subranges throughout the country.
Kinlochewe is a village in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It is in the parish of Gairloch, the community of Torridon and Kinlochewe and the Highland council area. It lies near the head of Loch Maree in its magnificent valley, and serves as a junction between the main Ullapool road north, and that which heads west to the coast at Loch Torridon. Loch Maree was at one time also known as Loch Ewe, hence the village's apparently confused name.
In geology, the term Torridonian is the informal name for the Torridonian Group, a series of Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic arenaceous and argillaceous sedimentary rocks, which occur extensively in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The strata of the Torridonian Group are particularly well exposed in the district of upper Loch Torridon, a circumstance which suggested the name Torridon Sandstone, first applied to these rocks by James Nicol. Stratigraphically, they lie unconformably on gneisses of the Lewisian complex and their outcrop extent is restricted to the Hebridean Terrane.
Torridon is a small village in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. However the name is also applied to the area surrounding the village, particularly the Torridon Hills, mountains to the north of Glen Torridon. It lies on the shore of Loch Torridon.
Beinn Liath Mhòr is a Scottish mountain situated in the mountainous area between Strath Carron and Glen Torridon in Wester Ross in the Highland region. Geologically Beinn Liath Mhòr is made up of Cambrian quartzite scree and Torridonian sandstones giving the mountain a distinctive colour contrast of light and dark. The mountain's other main characteristic is its two kilometre long undulating summit ridge which does not drop below 800 metres for its entire length. This culminates at the summit at its far western end at a height of 926 metres (3038 feet) making Beinn Liath Mhòr the 258th highest Munro.
Sgorr Ruadh is a mountain between Strath Carron and Glen Torridon in Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. It is located in Coire Lair near Achnashellach along with two other mountains, Beinn Liath Mhòr and Fuar Tholl, and is often climbed together with one or both of these other mountains.
The Northwest Highlands are located in the northern third of Scotland that is separated from the Grampian Mountains by the Great Glen. The region comprises Wester Ross, Assynt, Sutherland and part of Caithness. The Caledonian Canal, which extends from Loch Linnhe in the south-west, via Loch Ness to the Moray Firth in the north-east splits this area from the rest of the country. The city of Inverness and the town of Fort William serve as gateways to the region from the south.
Maol Cheann-Dearg is a mountain in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, between Upper Loch Torridon and Loch Carron, in the Coulags deer forest in Wester Ross. It is one of three Munros in this area and reaches a height of 933 metres (3,060 feet), it is slightly isolated from the other two being separated by a low col of 420 metres and therefore tends to be ascended separately. The mountain is typical of the region in that geologically it is made up of a mixture of sandstone and quartzite, it has a steep flanks and is rock-strewn. The dome shaped summit is littered with red sandstone boulders and lacking in vegetation making its translated name of "red-headed brow" especially appropriate. The mountain is not to be confused with Maol Chinn-dearg, another Munro on the south Glen Shiel ridge.
Beinn Damh is a Scottish mountain situated in the wild mountainous area between Upper Loch Torridon and Glen Carron, 25 kilometres north northeast of Kyle of Lochalsh. Beinn Damh is classed as a Corbett reaching a height of 903 metres (2,962 feet) failing to qualify as a Munro by eleven metres, despite this it is a fine mountain with a four-kilometre-long undulating summit ridge with three tops, it has steep slopes and crags with its eastern face being especially dramatic with huge buttresses and cliffs. The mountain has the conspicuous “Stirrup Mark” just to the south west of the summit, this is a semi circular area of white quartzite surrounded by grey rock which stands out when the mountain is viewed from the south west. The mountain's translated name of “Hill of the Stag” is apt because it stands in the middle of the Ben Damh deer estate.
An Ruadh-stac is a Scottish mountain situated in the Wester Ross region of the Highland council area. It is located 26 km north east of Kyle of Lochalsh.
