📌 Goatfell Range, Isle of Arran
★★★★
Goatfell’s granite cone stands proud above Brodick Bay, admired from afar by holidaymakers arriving on ferries to Arran from the Ayrshire mainland. The excellent path up from near Brodick Castle makes for – in good conditions – an unexpectedly straightforward ascent given this is Arran’s highest peak. Experienced walkers will be tempted by the stunning summit panorama to continue north, traversing (or bypassing) a series of rocky pinnacles en route to spiky North Goatfell, followed by a loose descent to The Saddle: a grand meeting point of classic routes at the heart of the range. The walk out through Glen Rosa is quite long but amidst beautiful surroundings, with countless clear pools to paddle in on a hot day.
📷 Chronological photo guide
Ascent through Brodick Castle Country Park 
View back over Brodick Bay from the lower slopes 
Crossing an aqueduct at the 300m mark 
Goatfell 
Skylark 
Gaining the east ridge 
View down the east ridge from the summit approach 
Goatfell summit, Cir Mhòr (left) & Caisteal Abhail (centre) beyond 
South ridge & Brodick Bay 
Beinn Tarsuinn 
View ahead to Stacach & North Goatfell 
North Goatfell (right) from Stacach 
Coire Lan 
Descent from North Goatfell, Cir Mhòr (centre) beyond 
Glen Sannox 
Descent to The Saddle 
View back to North Goatfell 
Cir Mhòr from The Saddle 
Glen Rosa 
Cir Mhòr from Glen Rosa 
Middle part of Glen Rosa 
View back up the glen 
Crossing to the northeast bank 
Lower Glen Rosa 
Return through Brodick Castle Country Park
🌍 Location
📌 Start / finish at Cladach, A841 1 mi north of Brodick, Isle of Arran
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NS 013376
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.591100,-5.155423
🚌 Bus stops at car park
🚗 Car park
📝 Key info
▶ 16 km / 10 mi | ▲ 980 m | ⌛ 6.5-7.5 hr
Features: △ Goatfell (874 m, Corbett); 🧗 Stacach ridge; △ North Goatfell (818 m); 🍃 Glen Rosa
⬤ Tough | Excellent hill path for ascent to Goatfell, then narrow / rougher paths with some easy scrambling / loose ground mostly on descent from North Goatfell. Scrambling directly across the Stacach tors instead of bypassing them raises grade to ⬤ Very Tough. Good path from The Saddle through Glen Rosa to finish.
Download file for GPS➡️ Anticlockwise circuit: start – Goatfell by main path – Stacach ridge (bypass tors to east) – North Goatfell (bypass to west just below top, then double back to summit) – The Saddle – cross footbridge to northeast bank in Glen Rosa at 🧭 NR 983388 – start
🥾 On our last visit
Wildlife: Lizards, skylarks, seagulls, crows. Hairy caterpillars, butterflies, dragonflies, some clegs lower down. Highland cows early in the walk. Trout in the Glenrosa Water.
Weather: Full sunshine with a little haze, 23°C in Brodick by the end of the walk but a welcome breeze for most of the route.
July 2022
