Glas Maol Munros Circuit

This 12-mile (19.3 km) loop starts at an A93 layby and crosses Càrn an Tuirc, Cairn of Claise, Glas Maol and Creag Leacach, gaining about 891 m. Allow 6½ to 7½ hours. The high start links the first three summits with little descent, but boggy ground, fading paths and a long return make this a full mountain day. Keep a map ready on the open tops, where the faint line can disappear. If four Munros are your goal, this is the circuit; for Glas Maol and Creag Leacach alone, the shorter two-summit route from Cairnwell Pass is a better fit.

Start at the layby east of the A93, about 2 km north of Glenshee Ski Centre. Head toward the grass-covered old stone bridge, which once carried the military road between Perth and Braemar. A faint path passes two groups of old shielings before crossing a tributary burn. Choose a shallow crossing, then climb through grass and heather. The line fades across bog before becoming stonier on Càrn an Tuirc. Cairnwell Pass opens behind you. The summit is a broad, flat plateau with a main cairn and smaller shelter cairn; views reach across Deeside toward the Cairngorms.

Leave Càrn an Tuirc eastward by a smaller cairn, then descend east-southeast to grassy ground and continue toward Cairn of Claise. Near a dry-stone wall, follow it as the ground grows stonier; it marks an old county boundary, and the summit cairn stands just to its left. Turn southwest along the broad ridge, then use the track by a tiny lochan that skirts the east side of Glas Maol. Leave it for the direct climb to Glas Maol’s large cairn and triangulation pillar. At 1,068 m, it is the circuit’s highest top. The plateau stretches east and north toward Lochnagar, but its breadth can make navigation feel deceptively simple.

Cross open grassy ground southwest to Bathach Beag, then follow the wall south along a clearer ridge. A tiny stone shelter sits at the bealach, barely large enough for a sheep. The ridge climbs over Cul Riabhach to Creag Leacach. At 987 m it is the lowest of the four Munros, but its narrower, rockier crest gives the walk a more defined finish after the broad plateau. Creag Leacach is not the end of the loop: the summer return heads back north to Bathach Beag.

Retrace the ridge to the cairn at Bathach Beag, then take the faint, narrow path contouring around Glas Maol’s west side. It begins across grass and crosses a steep slope before meeting the zigzag path descending along Meall Odhar. Follow it toward the ski tows, then descend through the upper ski area to the peat-hagged bealach and ski-centre buildings. From Cairnwell Pass, the loop closes with about 2.5 km north beside the busy A93 to the layby. That road walk is the awkward price of completing the circuit without retracing the summits.

The west-side contour is the summer return. Under snow, the steep slope can be avalanche-prone and its path may be banked out. The winter alternative leaves Creag Leacach toward its southwest top, then descends by Meall Gorm and Allt Coire a’ Bhathaich before returning by road over Cairnwell Pass; it is a different route from the mapped summer loop. Scotland’s responsible access rights apply here. Dogs are allowed if kept in sight and under control, with a lead when needed to avoid disturbing livestock or wildlife. Check current hill-stalking notices and estate signs before setting out; activity can be planned year-round. There is no bus to the layby; the nearest stop is at Glenshee Ski Centre.