As I head towards my final 50 Corbetts, I am inevitably needing to travel greater distances from home. I am still very happy to walk and run “repeat” mountains, especially with friends, but I am also keen to bag new summits. On one of the hottest weekends I can remember in Scotland, I drove south to meet Ben and Rob on the Argour Peninsula. Our aim on day one was Sgùrr Dhomhnuill.
Where is Ardgour?
If you think of Scotland and know where Fort William is, then track west across Loch Linnhe, you will arrive at Ardgour. The choice for me, driving from Inverness, was to go south to Fort William and then turn right towards Banavie and along the northern shore of Loch Eil. The drive then heads back along the south side of the same loch, before goping south to Ardgour. It’s a single-track road that is slow to drive but with stunning views, especially of Ben Nevis.
The alternative is to drive through Fort William and further south to Corran, where a small ferry takes passengers and vehicles the very short distance to and fro across the loch to Ardgour. There is a charge of £12 each way for cars and vans.
I did both journeys and I am happy with both options.
Sgùrr Dhomhnuill from Ariundle Oakwoods
We chose to walk to Sgùrr Dhomhnuill from Ariundle Oakwoods. The woods, which are a remnant of the native oakwoods that once extended along the west coast of Scotland, are now designated a National Nature Reserve. They offered a lovely approach and finish to our day’s hiking, especially as we could enjoy a bit of shade from the sun’s heat amid the oaks, as well as an array of other trees including Scots pine, ash, birch, hazel, rowan and willow. The woods are also a habitat for rare lichen, moss and insects.
The track took us north-west some 5km where we reached an ancient lead mine. All that is left of Strontian lead mine is some spoils and workings but it’s very obviously a man-made landscape. We walked across these and then on to a much fainter path.
The route is fairly easy to see on the ground but, as is common with Corbetts, the trod comes and goes due to bog and vegetation, so you do need to keep an eye on navigation. We continued to climb on to the lower slopes of the Druim Leac a’Sgiathain ridge, from where we could see the triangular shape of our Corbett ahead to the left.
The ridge undulates over a few humps and we bypassed Sgùrr na h-Ighinn, keeping to the left and heading towards the bealach between Sgùrr na h-Ighinn and Sgùrr Dhomhnuill.
The final ascent to the Corbett summit starts with an easier gradient on a wider grassy slope, before a steeper final pull. I followed a steep but grassy rake going right to pass beneath crags before another steeper climb to the final ridge, where it’s easy to spot the huge summit cairn at 888m elevation.
Return route from Sgùrr Dhomhnuill
The most straightforward option is to return the way you arrive. But Rob, Ben and I were attracted to a large loch of what looked to be refreshingly cool waters along a ridge to the north called Druim Garbh. Perhaps it was the heat – I have never felt so roastingly hot on a mountain summits in Scotland – that made us believe the loch was closer that it turned out to be.
In any case, after a very steep drop off the north-west side of the Corbett summit, we then ascended the south-eastern side of the ridge.
This ridge undulated many times and, by now, the afternoon heat was suffocating. We kept hoping for a breeze because we were fairly high up, but little came.
We also kept hoping that the cooling loch would be “just over” the next hump.
Eventually, it was and – I was delighted to go for a dip in the water. It was deliciously cool but the loch was also full of tadpoles, newts and other strange wee creatures. Even stranger, these water creatures didn’t seemed bothered by the sight of large humans and remained unnervingly close by in the water. Ben also happily sunk into the loch waters, while Rob soaked his feet.
I confess I am not keen on small water creatures and beasts but, then again, it was their home and I had to behave as a visitor.
After a long soak while sitting on a rock, I reluctantly got out of the water and we continued on foot. We slowly descended the end of the ridge, to the south west and finally rejoined the track lower down and just above the lead mines.
It felt hotter than ever in the lower regions of the mountains and we were all looking forward to returning to the relative shade of the oakwoods. However, it felt like the track back to the start of the walk had grown by at least three times the distance.
We were all heat weary by this point and it turned out the distance and elevation covered over the day were much more than we had planned.
This is a beautiful and remote area of Scotland and a fine place to bag mountains. I recommend you choose a day of clear views but perhaps avoid being out when it’s very warm (although this is a rarity in Scotland).
Route details: Sgùrr Dhomhnuill on the Ardgour peninsula
Distance: 21km
Total ascent: 1150m
Corbetts bagged: 170 (July 12, 2025)