Assynt Explore: Wild Camping Around Meall Horn

We had three dog-free days during a spell of some windy but reasonably good weather. The original plan was a circuit via Foinaven. But as this was our first backpacking trip of the year and we didn’t fancy negotiating the windy exposed ridges of Foinaven with laden bags and rusty legs, we crafted this journey instead. This trip takes in the smaller hills west of Foinaven and Arkle, namely Meall Horn and Sabhal Beag. The highlight, though, is the pure wilderness feel and incredible views of the surrounding mountains and even as far as Orkney.

Trip Essentials

These are my personal notes and are here to give you some inspiration for your own journey – they shouldn’t be used as a guide! If you’re heading to the hills, make sure you or someone with you has solid map reading and navigation skills. You’ll find links below to relevant maps and resources to help you plan your own adventure. Have fun and stay safe out there!

• Starting / Finish Point: Car park off the A838 just south of Loch Stack (View in Google Maps) 
• Total Distance: ~31.5km
• Total Ascent: ~1510m
• Terrain: A good track to start, then a rough path, then off piste as you head onto the hills. (The route we took down from Meall Horn over Creachan Thormaid was a peat bog hell – you might be better off descending from the bealach between Meall Horn and Reagan Meall Horn, back onto the track down Allt Horn.)
• Maps: OS Explorer 445
• View GPX on OS Maps
• View this route and more in our Interactive Route Map

Field notes

We drove up the night before our journey and enjoyed a fun van night before setting off in the morning at around 11 a.m. (after a long week, a leisurely start was called for). This was my second wild camp of the year and our first wild camp together. The packs felt heavy! But the weight was eased by the relatively easy start.

The route begins on a straightforward road past a house on the loch, complete with an entourage of chickens and ducks. Once past the house, the road turns into a good track leading to some ideally placed old buildings (marked as “Lone” on the OS map). The imposing view of Arkle is captivating. Ahead, we could see our destination up the gorge towards Meall Horn. Here, there is a real sense of walking into the wilderness.

The track soon meets a blissful woodland—a great place to camp, and indeed where we camped on night two.

The climbing begins as you emerge from the woodland, following a track that steadily ascends to Bealach Horn. We stopped along the way for PB&J sandwiches, a current favourite winter lunch option (though we wished we’d brought a flask of hot chocolate to go with it).

As we neared the bealach, the hail arrived, and I was very glad I’d opted to wear full Paramos for this trip. Ever-present Arkle showed off its moodier side. We pushed on over the bealach and around the back of Creagan Meall Horn.

Here, it really does feel like turning a corner (which, in a sense, you are). Any hints of civilisation are now left behind. All you can see are mountains and landscape, rippling with Lewisian gneiss (the oldest rocks in Europe) and tiny lochans. Nothing man-made. There is a feeling of freedom in having it to ourselves for this moment, and much gratitude that we get to explore it on foot, self-supported, with all we need on our backs.

It’s not long before the track descends towards the magical An Dubh Loch, with Lochan Ulbha “hanging” above it. This is where the good track ends, and things start to get a little more interesting.

The OS map shows a path continuing to Lochan Sgeireach. I’d say it’s an intermittent path at best—hard to find at first and equally easy to lose along the way!

At Lochan Sgeireach, we went off-piste, effectively turning back on ourselves but this time heading uphill above the crags we’d just passed. Our goal was to make it to Loch na Sealga. But as we started negotiating the erratic boulder field (fascinating in its own right!), the wind picked up and more hail arrived, so we decided to take shelter a bit sooner than planned.

This was our first night in the Hilleberg Allak 3, and I have to say, we were very grateful we had it! The wind, rain, and then snow carried on until the wee hours, but we were warm and cosy. The vestibule provided plenty of room for cooking a hearty dinner—homemade dehydrated chilli with a side of Idahoan mashed potatoes, pure comfort food and one of my favourite wild camping meals.

Luckily for us, the skies cleared overnight, and we woke up to a still, magical morning. We were able to enjoy a leisurely coffee, then “cook” breakfast outside and take in the view.

What did we eat? Breakfast was from a stash of freeze dried meals I acquired – an Expedition Foods Scrambled Eggs and Cheese with Caramelised onion. 1000 calories! We shared it, and neither of us finished our portion. Not that it was bad—the flavour was actually okay and well-seasoned—but the sponge-like texture of the egg got a bit weird after a while. To its credit, it kept me going for the morning and much of the afternoon!

It was only a 30-minute walk to our original objective, Loch na Sealga, so we didn’t feel too far behind. Our first target, Sabhail Beag, was next—a steep climb to its broad top. We were rewarded with spectacular views, the most striking for me being the neighbouring “T-shaped” hills of Tatha nam Beann, Meall Garbh, and Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhùghaill (the hill with the longest name in Scotland!).

We descended close to our ascent route, now looking north towards our next destination—Sabhail Mòr and Meall Horn. The gentlest ascent follows the crag above Loch na Sealga. It looks intimidatingly steep from a distance, but up close, it was very manageable (especially after another PB&J).

Saving Meall Horn for last was the right choice—it was the highest summit of the day and, for me, had the most dramatic viewpoints. The ridge routes of Arkle and Foinaven were breathtaking, and in the distance, Cranstackie loomed like the boulder field from hell.

We made our descent over Crachan Thormaid, which is also what walkhighlands recommends for shorter journeys to Meall Horn from Loch Stack. It was tough going over bog and peat hags—I’m not sure I’d like to do that again! On the plus side, we did see two ptarmigan up close which was pretty cool.

Eventually, we got fed up with the terrain and opted for a steep descent off the hill, crossing the Allt Horn and rejoining the track we’d come up on.

That evening was the stuff of wild camping dreams—pitched in a woodland with calm weather, sitting by the river, and enjoying dinner outdoors. We had one of our own dehydrated meals, an awesome lamb tagine (a riff on my dehydrated veggie tagine with some leftover lamb shawarma added to the mix) and some surprisingly good naan breads we miraculously found at our local Spar (Leicester Handmade Naans – recommended!).

All dreams must come to an end, and so we got an early start for the short walk back to the van. I’m already looking forward to returning to this area. There are so many hills to explore, and since none of them are Munros, it’s generally very quiet year-round. A true place to escape, find solitude, and explore some of the most remote parts of Scotland. Scotland at its best!

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