Meall nan Tarmachan

Meall nan Tarmachan
Meall nan Tarmachan from the south.
Highest point
Elevation1,043 m (3,422 ft)
Prominence492 m (1,614 ft)
Parent peakBen Lawers
ListingMunro, Marilyn
Naming
English translationHill of the ptarmigans
Language of nameGaelic
Geography
LocationPerth and Kinross, Scotland
OS gridNN585390
Topo mapOS Landranger 51

Meall nan Tarmachan (Scottish Gaelic: [ˈmjaul̪ˠ nən̪ˠ ˈt̪aɾaməxan]) is a mountain in the Southern Highlands of Scotland near Killin just west of Ben Lawers. It is often climbed as part of the Tarmachan ridge, the other peaks of which are Meall Garbh (1026 m), Beinn nan Eachan (1000 m) and Creag na Caillich (914 m); these three peaks are Tops rather than Munros, and lie to the south-west of Meall nan Tarmachan.

It is normally approached from the east via the road heading north from the Ben Lawers visitors centre. From the Ben Lawers visitors centre the summit is only a short walk, with no real difficulties. Traversing the entire Tarmachan ridge does however involve some scrambling.

The name Meall nan Tarmachan is Gaelic for "mound of the ptarmigans".

Regarding the other peaks in the Tarmachan ridge, Meal Garbh (translates to "rough lump") and Beinn nan Eachan ("mountain of horses") are classified as munro tops due to lack of sufficient separation. Creag na Caillich ("crag of the old woman") does not qualify as a munro top (despite previous inclusions to the list) as it is 2999.7ft tall, 0.3 ft under the 3000ft criteria.