The most isolated hills in Britain and Ireland
Isolation is the straight-line distance from a summit to the nearest point that is higher. By that measure the most isolated hill in Britain and Ireland is Carrauntoohil: the nearest higher ground is Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa, 401.2 km away across the Irish Sea. Snowdon comes second at 368.4 km. A typical hill on this site is far less remote: the median isolation is 3.1 km.
How isolation is measured
For each hill we look through all 21,539 hills in the Database of British and Irish Hills, keep those that are higher, and take the nearest by great-circle distance. Only listed summits count, so the true distance to higher ground can be a little shorter where a slope rises above the summit's height without a listed top. Ben Nevis has no higher summit at all, which leaves 1,139 hills with a figure.
Isolation and drop are related but not the same. Drop asks how far down you must go; isolation asks how far across. A hill can have a large drop and a short isolation if a deep glen separates it from a higher neighbour close by.
The 20 most isolated hills
| No. | Hill | Isolation | Height | Nearest higher summit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carrauntoohil | 401.2 km | 1,038.6 m | Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa (1,085 m), east | 1,038.6 m · nearest higher Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa |
| 2 | Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa | 368.4 km | 1,085 m | Stob Binnein (1,164.8 m), north | 1,085 m · nearest higher Stob Binnein |
| 3 | Lugnaquillia Mountain | 160.2 km | 924.7 m | Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa (1,085 m), east | 924.7 m · nearest higher Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa |
| 4 | Mweelrea | 157.3 km | 814.5 m | Brandon Far North Top (840.1 m), south | 814.5 m · nearest higher Brandon Far North Top |
| 5 | Scafell Pike | 152.3 km | 978.1 m | Carnedd Llewelyn (1,061.8 m), south | 978.1 m · nearest higher Carnedd Llewelyn |
| 6 | Slieve Donard | 139.6 km | 850 m | Lugnaquillia Mountain (924.7 m), south | 850 m · nearest higher Lugnaquillia Mountain |
| 7 | Errigal | 139.5 km | 747 m | Nephin (806 m), south-west | 747 m · nearest higher Nephin |
| 8 | High Willhays | 132.5 km | 622 m | Garreg Las (633.8 m), north | 622 m · nearest higher Garreg Las |
| 9 | Galtymore | 110.5 km | 917.9 m | Cruach Mhor (930.8 m), west | 917.9 m · nearest higher Cruach Mhor |
| 10 | Pen y Fan | 96.2 km | 886 m | Cadair Idris – Penygadair (892.7 m), north | 886 m · nearest higher Cadair Idris – Penygadair |
| 11 | Ben Macdui | 86.5 km | 1,309.3 m | Ben Nevis (1,344.5 m), west | 1,309.3 m · nearest higher Ben Nevis |
| 12 | Kinder Scout | 85.9 km | 636.3 m | Fountains Fell South Top (663.4 m), north | 636.3 m · nearest higher Fountains Fell South Top |
| 13 | An Cliseam | 81.2 km | 800 m | Creag an Fhithich (801 m), south-east | 800 m · nearest higher Creag an Fhithich |
| 14 | Broad Law | 81.1 km | 840.1 m | Merrick (843 m), south-west | 840.1 m · nearest higher Merrick |
| 15 | Snaefell | 76.1 km | 621 m | Iron Crag (640 m), east | 621 m · nearest higher Iron Crag |
| 16 | The Cheviot | 73.1 km | 816 m | Dollar Law (817 m), west | 816 m · nearest higher Dollar Law |
| 17 | Sawel | 71.4 km | 678 m | Slieve Snaght (679 m), west | 678 m · nearest higher Slieve Snaght |
| 18 | Merrick | 70.8 km | 843 m | Goatfell (875 m), north-west | 843 m · nearest higher Goatfell |
| 19 | Goatfell | 69.5 km | 875 m | The Cobbler (886.7 m), north | 875 m · nearest higher The Cobbler |
| 20 | Cuilcagh | 63.9 km | 666 m | Croaghgorm (673 m), north | 666 m · nearest higher Croaghgorm |
Distance to the nearest higher hill in the database; names without a link are hills not profiled on this site.
By country, the top 20 holds eight in Ireland, five in Scotland, four in England, two in Wales and one in the Isle of Man. Ireland is over-represented: it has 104 of the 1,140 hills on this site, under a tenth, but eight of the 20 most isolated. Scotland, with 737 hills, has many high mountains packed close together, so few of its summits are far from something higher.
The list is mostly national and regional high points. Carrauntoohil, Snowdon, Lugnaquillia Mountain, Scafell Pike, Slieve Donard and Pen y Fan each top a separate upland area, so the nearest higher ground is in another region. Of these 20 hills, 14 are also in the top 100 by drop, and seven have a nearest higher summit that is too small to be profiled on this site, such as Brandon Far North Top for Mweelrea.
Following the chain
Because each hill points to its nearest higher neighbour, you can follow the links upward. Starting at Carrauntoohil the chain runs: Carrauntoohil (1,038.6 m) → Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa (1,085 m) → Stob Binnein (1,164.8 m) → Ben More (1,173.9 m) → Ben Lawers (1,214.3 m) → Aonach Beag (1,234.2 m) → Ben Nevis (1,344.5 m). Six steps take you from the top of Ireland to the top of Britain.
What is typical
Most hills are close to something higher: 71 of the 1,139 are within 1 km of higher ground, and the most crowded, at 0.2 km, are Am Basteir, Steeple, Armboth Fell and Brock Crags (Wainwright). At the other end, 26 hills are 50 km or more from higher ground and nine are 100 km or more.
| Isolation | Hills | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| under 1 km | 71 | 6.2% | 71 hills |
| 1–3 km | 473 | 41.5% | 473 hills |
| 3–10 km | 445 | 39.1% | 445 hills |
| 10–30 km | 110 | 9.7% | 110 hills |
| 30–100 km | 31 | 2.7% | 31 hills |
| 100 km or more | 9 | 0.8% | 9 hills |
Isolation of the 1,139 hills with a higher summit, in bands.
By country, the median isolation of the hills profiled here is 5.9 km in Ireland, 5.1 km in Wales, 3.3 km in Scotland and 1.5 km in England. Irish mountains stand in separate groups with low ground between; the English figure is low because the Lake District fells sit close together. The Isle of Man's only hill here, Snaefell, is 76.1 km from higher ground.
The complete lists differ in the same way. The median isolation is 3.6 km for the Corbetts, 3.3 km for the Grahams, 2.9 km for the Munros and 1.3 km for the Wainwrights. The Corbetts and Grahams carry a drop rule, and two summits with a deep col between them are rarely a few hundred metres apart. Neither the Munros nor the Wainwrights have a drop rule, so both include tops that sit on the shoulders of bigger hills.
The short end of the scale is just as telling. Am Basteir, a Munro of 934 m in the database region “Minginish and the Cuillin Hills”, has Sgurr a' Fionn Choire (936 m) only 0.2 km to the south-west, yet its drop is 49 m. On a narrow ridge a summit can be very close to higher ground and still need a real descent to reach it.
In the finder: sort all 1,140 hills by isolation
Every hill page shows its isolation on a strip chart of all 1,139 values, with the nearest higher summit named and linked. For the other measure of standing out, read What prominence (drop) means, with real figures.
Sources
- Contains data from The Database of British and Irish Hills v18.6 (www.hill-bagging.co.uk/dobih), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Distances, ranks and comparisons are our own calculations. hill-bagging.co.uk/dobih, licence.
- How drop, isolation and ranks are worked out: Data & methodology.