Goatfell Summit

Goatfell Summit
Isle of Arran, Argyll & Bute, Scotland
Start: Brodick
End: Goatfell Summit
Distance: 10.5 miles (16.8 km)
Time: 3 hours
Difficulty: Strenuous
Surface: Roads, Forest Paths, Moorland

Website: www.walkhighlands.co.uk

A Corbett, in Scottish Highland speak, is any peak with a height of between 2,500 feet (762 m) and 3,000 feet (914 m), with a minimum 500-foot (152-m) prominence. The first list of 221 Corbetts was compiled in i921 by the British climber John Rooke Corbett. Today, the total stands at 449, one of which is Goatfell summit on the northern end of the Isle of Arran.

If you only have a day to spare, it’s possible to catch the Cal Mac ferry from the Scottish mainland, make a reasonably strenuous three-hour ascent from Brodick to the summit, and then head back down again in time to board the afternoon ferry home. An alternative route begins in the exquisite seaside village of Corrie, 6 miles (9.7 km) to the north of Brodick.

The quicker route follows the coastal road through Brodick, while the climb proper begins at Cladach. Waymarked paths at Cnocan tempt you to the left or right of the main path, but keep your eyes straight and continue until you pass through a gateway in an old drystone wall. As you gain altitude, the stands of birch begin to thin out, and you cross a heathery, grassy moorland before a steep gradient takes you to the shoulder of Meall Brac. From there it’s a steep climb through boulders and granite outcrops to the summit, with the entire Isle of Arran squarely at your feet.