Walk, scramble or climb -
it's all mountaineering!
Life is more than a feeling
Established in the rugged landscape of the Angus Glens, the club has made its mark in the mountaineering community promoting the "Scottish Hills" and providing a means for people who want to enjoy that experience in the company of like minded club members.
Our members, a mix of seasoned mountaineers, novice walkers and climbers, come together to explore the Scottish terrain creating unforgettable memories, both good and bad!
We organise a variety of monthly meets so, regardless of your level of experience,you would be welcome to our club.
Forge new friendships, share the weather, and enjoy our mountains with the Carn Dearg Mountaineering Club.
Anybody interested in membership can click here for further information.
Our Activities
Hill Walking
Hill walking is nowadays the most popular activity at Carn Dearg Mountaineering Club. Many members will be out on the hills at all times of the year. Our monthly "Club Meets" enable members and guests to organise a variety of routes from the weekend's venue. Members can engage in a mix of walks, from gentle strolls in the countryside to challenging hikes in the mountains which cater for all levels of experience and ability.
Climbing
Scrambling is often included in our hillwalking activities. Although the Carn Dearg Mountaineering Club was historically known as a serious climbing club, our current membership focuses more on hillwalking. We are always ready to welcome new members with different levels of knowledge, skill and experience across all aspects of mountaineering.
The hut is ideally situated for hill walking on the Munros of Mayar and Driesh. It is within walking distance of the rock climbing crags of Red Craig, and about one hour’s walk from the winter climbing areas of Winter Corrie and Corrie Fee. The hut is available for use by members of the club, and can also be booked by mountaineering clubs and other established groups/organisations.
The hut provides basic accommodation for up to 16 people in two bunkrooms;
- Large living space with wood burning stove
- Large kitchen with two cookers, fridges, pots, pans, crockery and cutlery, microwave ovens, toaster
- Two toilets (one of which is accessible for wheelchair users) and one shower (also wheelchair accessible)
- 2 bunkrooms with ‘alpine style’ sleeping platforms and mattresses (sleeping bags required)
- Drying room
To see our booking conditions and more detailed information click the link below.
To book the hut, please click the view availability button below and contact booking@carndearg.org. Alternatively, you can call Ken Wright our Hut Booking Secretary on 07933 658263. Please make sure you define your club, association or mountaineering affiliation when booking.
If you are a small party, and the date you are seeking is showing as booked, contact our Hut Booking Secretary, as two small parties can be comfortably accommodated at the same.
Unless otherwise specified, the meets are always scheduled to start on the first Friday of the month.
Mostly, the meet will be to a venue which has been booked by the club, but on occasions the meet will be "self booking".
"Self Booking" meets are normally to a commercial camp site, or hostel where it is necessary for the members to book their own accommodation slot. Details are provided in our Meet Programme.
Transport is usually not organised by the club, but car sharing is frequently available for attendees.
Guests are welcome to participate and this enables potential new members to check us out!
For further information click on our Meet Programme below.
Gallery
2025 Meet Programme
2026 MEET PROGRAMME
16 beds booked in the clubs own hut at Braedownie in Glen Clova. The hut is ideally situated for hill walking on the Munros of Mayar and Driesh. It is within walking distance of the rock climbing crags of Red Craig, and about one hour’s walk from the winter climbing areas of Winter Corrie and Corrie Fee. £5/£12 per person per night
Laggan Community Hall is a great local facility, situated within the village of Laggan. It offers basic accommodation for up to 24 people. There is a fully-equipped kitchen, WCs and showers, games room and free Wi-Fi. £15 per person per night
The Alex MacIntyre Memorial Hut is jointly owned by Mountaineering Scotland and the BMC. It's situated at North Ballachulish and can sleep 16 people. 16 beds are available in 5 rooms. Upstairs: 2 with 3 beds, and 2 with Alpine style sleeping platforms. Downstairs: small room presently with 1 bed. Mattresses are provided, but no pillows or blankets. £20 Per person per night
Kintail Outdoor Centre is situated in the north-west Highlands, below Sgurr na Moraich (the last of the famous Five Sisters of Kintail) and Ben Attow (Long Mountain). A fabulous setting for hillwalking with unparalleled scope for outdoor pursuits and field studies. 10 Spaces booked £27.00 per night
Rucksacks Braemar has a variety of accommodation, including a Bunkhouse, a Cottage and a Cabin. All are low budget and ideally situated close to the centre of Braemar an only a short drive from Glenshee Ski Centre
The hut is located in Elphin, in the far-flung North-west of Scotland. 10 beds (2 beds reserved for SMC members) Gas cookers Gas and electric heating Electric lighting Drying room Toilets 1 shower £20 per person per night
A range of accommodation options are available at Rum Bunkhouse, including cosy 4-bed and 6-bed dormitories, comfortable private twin rooms.. Staying in the Bunkhouse comes with access to all of the Bunkhouse amenities. Two kitchens, each fully equipped with fridge, cookers/ovens, toasters, microwave and cooking equipment and crockery and with enough space for large or multiple groups to prepare their meals. There are five toilets and six showers, separate male & female facilities and disabled access too. Camping is also available
A family run campsite situated on the beautiful west coast of the Highlands of Scotland with unsurpassed views of the Isle of Skye and Outer Hebrides. Sands is an ideal base to explore the best of Wester Ross. Self Booking
The Hostel provides a great location for exploring the Cairngorms National Park. The Smugglers is an independent hostel run by the local community development trust and all surplus profits are reinvested back into the community. Situated in the picturesque village of Tomintoul within the Glenlivet Estate, the hostel makes a great base for exploring the local area. £25 per person per night
The Hostel has 26 beds in 8 rooms, from twin/double rooms sleeping 2 to 6 person family rooms. It has a well equipped kitchen and dining area for cooking and a large comfortable common room to relax after a day walking the West Highland Way or climbing the local Munro’s. Self Booking
Accommodation: Milehouse has two rooms, one with alpine-style sleeping platforms with mattresses for 12 people. Please bring your own sleeping bag, pillow, pillow case, towel and tea towels. There is a fully equipped kitchen and an open plan dining/sitting room. Facilities: Electric lighting and heating (£1 coin meter); solid fuel stove; gas oven (not electric) including oven, grill and hob, as well as a separate gas hob; microwave; fridge; hot and cold running water at sinks and washbasins; two shower rooms with electric showers; drying room; two WCs; storage shed for skis or about 4 bikes.
The enormous Glencoe Ski Club Lodge at Bridge of Orchy. Accommodation for up to 50! people in rooms of various sizes. Well equipped kitchen downstairs with a large communal area. Male and Female Toilets and showers downstairs.
At a meeting held in the Rover Den in Forfar on 15th June 1949 the attendees decided to form a mountaineering club, and given their association with Glen Clova, the scene of their early rock climbs, the name “Carn Dearg” was adopted. Mike Sutherland was elected as the club’s first president with the indomitable Davie Glen invited to be Honorary President. Bill Wyllie also justifies recognition for his enthusiasm and hard work as the first Secretary-Treasurer, the most arduous office bearer, and this still continues to be the position today.
In February 1950, the club became a member of the Association of Scottish Climbing Clubs, a forerunner of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland.
History continued
With a focus on attracting a young, enthusiastic membership it was felt that a rather free and easy atmosphere should prevail rather than the fussiness and formality of older established mountaineering clubs. This approach was successful with membership booming to such an extent that District Secretaries were required for Kirriemuir, Brechin and Dundee. However, that initial enthusiasm rather dwindled and in 1953, the club was reinvigorated with an influx of new Dundee members who reinforced the remaining Forfar and Brechin folk resulting in annual general meetings moving to Dundee. The club subsequently took on a Dundee identity, but retained the free and easy atmosphere, attracting a more working class membership compared to the established Grampian Club which had a rather more “professional” membership.
The monthly bus meets were very popular, sometimes attracting so many members two buses were required. However, in the early 1950’s focus remained active on the Red Crags in Clova with Fred Old, Frank Anderson and Alex Ferguson particularly active. Their first ascent of Guiness being of some significance, but there were several other excellent rock climbers active in the club. Anybody wanting to learn more about their escapades and achievements should take a look at Grant Farquhar’s “A’Chreag Dhearg, Climbing Stories of the Angus Glens”.
In 1965, club members built their first club hut at Braedownie in Glen Clova and this proved to be a very successful project providing a base for both social events, mountaineering exploits and subsequent celebratory trips to the bar in the Clova Hotel, a mere three mile stagger back up the road!
In the 60’s and on into the 70’s club members continued to be at the forefront of Scottish climbing with Graeme Hunter and Doug Lang leading the way on Creag an Dubh Loch and the classic Ardverikie Wall. Lang and Neil Quinn were a formidable pairing on the snow and ice routes in winter.
The annual “Carn Dearg Social” held at Dykehead Hotel was always a highlight on the club calendar. This event necessitated involvement of both members and partners and the club has always encouraged a mixed membership. In 1983, Irene Hughes was elected as the first lady president of the club, and today a significant number of our active members are women.
Carn Dearg members have regularly been at the forefront of other mountaineering related activities with slide shows and lectures from visiting speakers initially held in rooms at Dudhope Castle, then the Ancrum Activities Centre and for a more prestigious venue, Dundee University could be accommodating. Members, particularly Honorary Life member Alfie Ingram, were fundamental in establishment and running of Tayside Mountain Rescue, the MountainMind Quiz, and the Dundee Mountain Film Festival.
By the early 2000’s, the Clova hut was showing signs of considerable wear and tear, and at the 2009 AGM, members agreed to initiate a plan to develop a new hut. After considerable lobbying, fund raising and brute force effort from members the new hut was officially opened in 2017 and provides very comfortable premises at the Braedownie location.
Although our current membership of around 40 is rather less than in the club’s heyday, we continue to hold regular monthly club meets. Members are now spread across Scotland and even into England and attendees at our meets include members from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Fife as well as the Dundee and Angus area. Although camping is still an option, many members nowadays prefer the comfort of a hut or cottage to a tent, and with the geographical spread of our members, cars are the normal mode of transport rather than the traditional “club bus”.
We pay an annual subscription, which is reviewed annually at our AGM.
Members are included in our generic club email distribution list and hence receive club updates such as meet invitations and reports. We also use the WhatsApp tool, mostly to share information about meet details.
Relevant information about how we share information is detailed in our Privacy Notice, available below.
Carn Dearg is a member of Mountaineering Scotland and our members are encouraged to also join that organisation and gain the associated benefits.
For anyone interested in becoming a member, please find our membership application form via the button below.
Contact
- Braedownie Hut Unnamed Rd, Kirriemuir DD8 4RD