Toll Creagach

Toll Creagach is a broad, dome-shaped mountain standing in the remote Highland council area between Glen Affric and Loch Mullardoch. Its Gaelic name means ‘rocky hollow’, and the land around it stretches empty for many kilometres. The nearest villages lie forty-five kilometres west at Kyle of Lochalsh and fifteen kilometres northeast near Cannich. The mountain sits apart from the main ridge that runs east from the 1,183-metre Càrn Eighe, linked only by the 870-metre Bealach Toll Easa to its higher neighbour Tom a’ Choinich. The walker finds five wide ridges radiating from the stony summit plateau, most of them grassy and gentle. Only the northern corrie between the northwest and northeast ridges is steep and broken with rock. The northeast ridge ends at Creag a’ Bhaca above Loch Mullardoch, while the southwest ridge drops to Beinn Eun above Gleann nam Fiadh. The broad west ridge leads back to the Bealach Toll Easa, where a round route also takes in Tom a’ Choinich. An ascent usually starts at a car park by Chisholme Bridge on the north shore of Loch Beinn a’ Mheadhoin. The shortest climb goes up Gleann nam Fiadh to the foot of Beinn Eun, then steeply over the southern slopes to the summit. A longer but easier route follows a path up Allt Toll Easa to the bealach and follows the west ridge to the trig point and cairn that mark the top. From the same bealach a full circuit can be made that includes both Toll Creagach and Tom a’ Choinich.