📌 Ladder Hills, Moray
★★★
Where are the Ladder Hills? Hidden behind the main bulk of the Cairngorms and close to the world’s whisky capital of Speyside, this gentle range of heather-clad summits take their name from The Ladder pass historically connecting Moray to inland Aberdeenshire. The remote location allowed Catholicism to continue uninterrupted during the Reformation, with the hidden College of Scalan and (later) Our Lady of Perpetual Succour the surviving outposts today. This circuit passes both, also climbing the old pass en route to the highest summit in the area. Many walkers seem to overlook these rolling hills just as Protestantism did – the result should be a peaceful day out with just the wind and wildlife for company.
🌍 Location
📌 Start / finish at minor road end just south of Chapeltown of Glenlivet
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NJ 245205
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 57.268225,-3.253403
❌ No public transport within 1 mi
🚗 Verge parking – do not block gates
📝 Key info
▶ 15 km / 9 mi | ▲ 520 m | ⌛ 4.5-5.5 hr
Features: ⛪ Our Lady of Perpetual Succour ★★; △ Dun Muir (754 m); △ Carn Mor (804 m, Corbett); ⛪ College of Scalan
⬤ Tough | Deteriorating: short section of minor road then good track to Ladderfoot, then decent but increasingly faint path to Dun Muir. Intermittent ridge path through heather and peat hags can be wet. Short, pathless descent from cairn to Clash of Scalan, then tracks to start.
Download file for GPS➡️ Clockwise circuit: start – Our Lady of Perpetual Succour – Ladderfoot – The Ladder – Dun Muir – Carn Mor – shoulder between Coire Ranaich and Caochan Cuil – cairn at 🧭 NJ 243177 – Clash of Scalan – College of Scalan – start
🥾 On our last visit
Wildlife: Numerous mountain hares in winter coats and red grouse on the moorland; sheep lower down.
Weather: Mostly sunny with a moderate breeze – just above freezing on the ridge. A few remaining snow wreaths / patches – higher distant hills had extensive cover.
March 2014
