We have selected six great Munros which offer a special experience in autumn. Of course we could have picked many more but we hope this sparkling half dozen will tempt you to get your boots on and head for the hills
Ben Lawers
Perthshire’s top peak stands proud above Loch Tay in an area renowned for its mosaic of woodland, open land and heather uplands. Ben Lawers itself has unique alpine flora and commands a wonderful panorama over a big sweep of Perthshire countryside. The range extends eastwards to the outliers of Meall Greigh and Meall Garbh across dun-coloured slopes that glow in the autumn sun.
Image by Cameron McNeish
Schiehallion
The ‘fairy hill of the Caledonians’ soars to a rocky, conical peak, but its lower slopes are adorned with fringing skirts of woodland that make an autumn ascent even more memorable. Looking east from the top in particular, the eye is drawn to the rich belt of mature woodland around Pitlochry and Killiecrankie, part of the area promoted as ‘Big Tree Country’.
Image by Cameron McNeish
Mount Keen
Scotland’s most easterly Munro shows itself in autumn in its wider context of being the highest point of a vast area of heather moor, peat and scattered woodland. The heather is at its finest during autumn but be warned, much of it is pathless and by no means easy to traverse! There are plenty of good paths to enjoy.
Image by Cameron McNeish
Ben More, Mull
There is something very special about an island peak and Ben More on Mull is no exception. The attraction here is the light, which as it softens through the autumn days has a very special quality, lending an extra edge of almost mystical beauty to the patchwork of islands and shores visible from Ben More’s summit.
Image by Roger Butler
Beinn Sgritheall
Beinn Sgritheall sweeps up from the west coast above Glenelg and just across the water from Skye. As with Ben More on Mull, the autumn light is one of the attractions, with the lowering sun slanting across the water to Blaven and the jagged outline of the Skye Cuillin beyond. In the glen to the north of the hills are two powerful brochs, Dun Telve and Dun Trodden, echoes of an earlier age.
Image by Màrtainn MacDhòmhnaill
Ben Lomond
The route up Scotland’s most southerly Munro passes through a broad belt of woodland before breaking out into the open. All the way up, and from the summit itself, you get views of the Loch Lomond oakwoods, a unique conservation area where the autumn colours are superb. If you come down the north side of the hill you can wander back along the West Highland Way, sampling the autumn palette.
Image by Damian Shields
