| Name: | Geal-charn |
| Hill number: | 392 |
| Height: | 917.1m / 3009ft |
| County/UA: | Highland |
| Topographical area: | HC05 Udlamain-chuallaich |
| SMC/RHB section: | 05A: Loch Ericht to Glen Tromie and Glen Garry |
| Catchment: | Spey, Catchment Boundaries, Tay |
| Watershed: | Mull of Kintyre to Rattray Head, Firth of Tay |
| Class: | Marilyn, Hump, Simm, Munro, High Hills of Britain, Murdo, Yeaman (Ma,Hu,Tu,Sim,M,HHB,Mur,Y) |
| Grid ref: | NN 59646 78252 |
| Summit feature: | rock 5m E of windshelter |
| Drop: | 178m |
| Col: | 739m NN592766  |
| OS map sheet(s): | (1:50k) 42 (1:25k) OL50 393 |
| Observations: | cairn on E top at NN 59772 78288 is 0.6m lower |
| Survey: | Leica NA730/Leica 530 Survey of Geal-charn (Final).doc |
| Change log: | show changes for this hill entry |
| GPS data: | show GPS entries for this hill |
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N.B. Some hill summits are on private property or on land where there is no public right of way. Permission should be sought from the landowner where access to a hill summit is through private land(*).
*For information about access rights in Scotland see the ScotWays website.
Please report via the contact page any logs you see below which describe or encourage acts of trespass. Please quote the hill number and hill name.
| Logged Descriptions (logged by 949 users, only the latest 50 shown - Show all) | By | Date of Ascent |
| C and P and I on a sunny Sunday | nrowan | 22/09/2024 |
| M90 - Solo | Jonninho70 | 18/08/2024 |
| 35 mins from Creagan Mor. On to A'Mharconaich. | ajwxyzt | 23/07/2024 |
| With Ally | BigNick | 23/06/2024 |
| 12.7 mile walk from Balsporran Cottage car park ascending the easy, sometimes boggy ridge up to Geal-Charn's broad summit. We descended to bealach, then headed up the good path onto A' Mharconaich summit. We then headed turned back and went along the good path to easily ascend Beinn Udlamain. Amazing views from this one. We then headed back down to the bealach with A' Mharconaich and followed a little contouring trail back to the Geal-Charn bealach following the stony track all the way back to the car park. 981m ascent. Only 1 or 2 other people about. The day started showery and cloudy but from the top of Geal-Charn everything slowly cleared to become sunny later on. Great views of the Ben Alder range across Loch Ericht. | DanTrig | 11/06/2024 |
| From Balsporran Cottages large carpark up track N of Allt Beul an Sporain, to high pt. Track towards Creagan Mor, leaving it to cross short mossy grass after 400m. Back direct to track x roads. Good track then intermittent path to Geal Charn in sunshine. Motorway off heading S then E and NE to A Mharconaich in thick mist. Bearing to Bruach nan Iomairean cairn then bearings and fence line E on ok to rough ground and peat hags before ascent of An Torc. Some ATV tracks here. Still in mist. Off N down heathery slope to pick up track be Allt an Tuirc 500m SW of mast. Good track out and 1km on cycle route alongside A9. 18km, 900m climb. 4:44 moving. Good navigation day, no phones allowed! | Lynnebe | 01/05/2024 |
| Parked at Balsporran Cottages. Circular walk taking in A' Mharconaich (973.2m) Bruach nan Iomairean (969.8m), Beinn Udlamain (1010.2m), An Sgulan (865m), Old Sgairneach Mhor (963m), Sgairneach Mhor (991m), Sgairneach Mhor E Top (758m) and the Sow of Atholl (798.9m). Then a separate circular walk around Geal-charn (917.1m) at the end due to an error at the start. Generally clear and sunny but cloud on some summits, still a nice walk with some snow on the ground but not too much. I'd made a mistake at the start but was confident I'd be able to climb this munro at the end as a separate walk, I got back to the car at 5pm from the main loop and set off. This had been in cloud at the start so it wouldn't have made any difference, but had cleared for most of the day. I knew I wouldn't be quick enough, I got to the south cairn and enjoyed the great view from there but the cloud dropped onto the summit before I made it. I continued from the summit to the valley head and dropped back. /D | meltdiceburg | 01/04/2024 |
| First of four Munros from Drumochter | Denise | 03/10/2023 |
| Parked at Balsporran Cottages. Circuit of Geal Charn, Bruach nan Lomairean, A'Mharconaich, Beinn Udlamain, old Sgairneach Mhor, Sgairneach Mhor, Sgairneach Mhor E Top and the Sow of Atholl. Prepositioned second car at the road to take us back to Balsporran Cottages to save the 4km cycle path walk. Blustery but generally clear and an enjoyable walk. With Gillian, Denise, Tony and Zoe and meeting Bernard and Sarah on some of the tops. | richard69 | 03/10/2023 |
| With Seumas | assynt_bob | 01/10/2023 |
| El's first munro. With mum + dad. | fionaross93 | 15/09/2023 |
| 2 of 10: From Creagan Mor. With Sam and Tim. | ChrisR | 27/08/2023 |
| Final hill then over the end to find the path below, cross the railway and back along the A9 to lay-by 79 | colinfielding | 26/04/2023 |
| Geal-charn (Drumochter), Bruach nan Iomairean, A' Mharconaich, Beinn Udlamain, Sgairneach Mhor (Old), Sgairneach Mhor, Sgairneach Mhor East Top & The Sow of Atholl (Meall an Dobharchain) from parking at Balsporran Cottage | JasonStark | 01/04/2023 |
| West Drumochter Munros plus Sow. Sunshine but one light-ish shower on Mharconaich. Left bike at Dalnaspidal. En route to Inverness. | Rounsfell | 05/08/2022 |
| Geal Charn & A'Mharconaich from Balsporran. | Crib Goch | 04/08/2022 |
| With Martha. SW wind, gusting 35/40mph around midday made walking a little awkward on occasion, dying out as day progressed. Also Beinn Udlamain, A'Mharconaich & Sgairneach Mhor. Tops mostly in the clouds. | Neily There | 03/08/2022 |
| Repeated with Yeltzbagger. Circuit including A’Mharconaich | Stevie n Tay | 17/07/2022 |
| Clockwise circuit of A'Mharconaich and Geal Charn from Balsporran with DRC. | TRG318 | 08/05/2022 |
| From layby 79 on the A9. Clockwise circuit of Sgairneach Mhor, Beinn Udlamain, A' Mharconaich & Geal-charn, then walk back down the cycle path parallel to the A9. | welshyboyo | 26/03/2022 |
| Circuit of Geal-charn and A'Mharconaich, with Alex D at end of CHMC Cairngorms Winter Trip | tleach12 | 18/03/2022 |
| With D, very windy at top so came back down instead of doing second. | Rodge | 04/01/2022 |
| From Balsporran Cottages. Sunny on the way out but descended in to misty rain from 600m or so. Iced coffees on the top to celebrate a brilliant 2021. With GFE. 7.65km, 2 hours 11minutes round trip. | Fionalevey | 31/12/2021 |
| With a group. From Balsporran cottages. Linear walk taking in the four Munros. | liljonb | 16/10/2021 |
| Geal Charn & A'Mharconaich from Balsporran. Hot & sunny. | thekirkie pirate | 08/09/2021 |
| Balsporran Cottages - Geal-charn - A’ Mharconaich - Bruach nan Iomairean - Beinn Udlamain - Sgairneach Mhor - The Sow of Atholl - footbridge at NN620750 - track and A9 cycle path back to Balsporran. | Mark Jackson | 25/08/2021 |
| Stopped in car park on way home, legged it up | Littledave | 08/08/2021 |
| Make sure you take the right path up the nose as easy path to follow up over a false summit to the top. Heading south west down the path to the col | Aristotle Chip | 30/05/2021 |
| A' Mharconaich and Geal Chàrn, Drumochter, Walkhighlands Route | hummusg | 19/05/2021 |
| With Jack, Joe, Jim On way back from Ben Alder traverse (backpacking) | fellie | 03/05/2021 |
| Ben Alder Traverse / Smash and Grab | fellwanderer92 | 03/05/2021 |
| Solo round of A' Mharconaich and Geal Charn (first time back in the B3s since January) - slushy snow low down but deeper powdery snow higher up. No visibility above 800m, but sky cleared as I got back down to near the car (non-shocker). 4h 35min total time. | mproudfoot | 06/12/2020 |
| Anticlockwise loop from layby 79 on a9 via B&B then up! All tops in this area except the boar. Couldn't face it after the steep ascent and descent from the sow. Just under 7hrs including walk in | Nicky C | 24/08/2020 |
| Brilliant day out with Brian Smith (and Gus), excellent conditions and superb views. | Kevthecat | 23/07/2020 |
| Did along with A' Mharconaich, Beinn Udlamain | supermario | 23/07/2020 |
| Winter ascent from Balsporran Cottages. White Out on summit so did not continue to A'Mharconaich but descended on compass bearing back to Balsporran. | knarf | 27/02/2020 |
| From Balsporran cottages, along tracks up ridge to Geal-charn, descending S then up surprisingly good path to the A' Mharconaich ridge and along to summit, returning SW to col with Beinn Udlamain, across summit descending S to Carn 'Ic Loumhaidh and up track to Sgairneach Mhor, descending along rim of Coire Creagach and NE to bridge across Allt Coire Dhomhain (NN61974 75049, marked on Harvey map), then along track to A9 (and cycled back to Balsporran). With JAS. | kdbennett | 13/10/2019 |
| From Balsporran Cottages as per WH. Route abandoned due to bad weather, return via bealach to W then track back to Balsporran. | TRG318 | 02/09/2019 |
| Main path from A9. Hot day and good views. | mcbboyd | 03/08/2019 |
| With Karen and Buster...wet n windy | Highland Days | 19/06/2019 |
| Ascent of Gael-charn from Balsporran Cottage via track to the south of Allt Beul an Sporain. On to A’Mharconaich. Along ridge, following fence line, to Beinn Udlamain. Descent to head waters of Allt Coire Dhomhain and ascent of Sgairneach Mhor. Descent via Coire Creagach and Dalnaspidal Forest to track in valley, and return to car along A9. | raymooremanx | 15/06/2019 |
| Tandem tour | TeasyChris | 21/05/2019 |
| 2nd ascent | dmckeith | 12/05/2019 |
| JW | HFB | 19/04/2019 |
| Solo | vgiorgio | 11/04/2019 |
| Out and back from the A9. Combination of 60mph winds and icy summit made standing up a bit of a challenge! | Geoff Briggs | 09/02/2019 |
| 59th Munro | lojzi860621 | 26/12/2018 |
| From Creagan Mor descended to bealach over Coire Beul an Sporain then up to summit. Great views to W. Saw some mountain hare in winter coat. Cold and windy at top. | 187lenny | 18/11/2018 |
| With Alex, light snow cover, sunny day. | gettingonabit | 28/10/2018 |
| Drumochter 4 round | quadbarrel | 18/10/2018 |