Compared to England, the Scottish Counties have had few changes over the years. There’s 3 main groupings of Scottish County:

Scottish Shires. Historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975.
Historic Counties. Also referred to as Traditional Counties or Former Counties. Established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 and abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
Scottish Council Areas. Also referred to as Present Day Counties. Established by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.

This post shows the highest point in each of Scotland’s counties based on the above groupings. As the Venn diagram shows there is a lot of overlap between the different types of county.

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Scotland’s Historic County Tops

Also referred to as Traditional Counties or Former Counties. Established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 and abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. More details on Scotland’s Historic Counties.

The highest points of these Historic Counties are:

Ben Nevis. 1,344 metres. Completed. Historic County = Invernessshire, Present Day County = Highland.
Ben Macdui. 1,309 metres. Historic Counties = Aberdeenshire and Banffshire. Present Day Counties = Aberdeenshire and Moray.
Ben Lawers. 1,214 metres. Completed. Historic County = Perthshire. Present Day County = Perth and Kinross.
Carn Eige. 1,183 metres. Historic County = Ross and Cromarty.
Bidean nam Bian. 1,150 metres. Historic County = Argyll.
Glas Maol. 1,068 metres. Completed. Historic County = Angus.
Ben More Assynt. 998 metres. Historic County = Sutherland.
Ben Lomond. 974 metres. Completed. Historic County = Stirlingshire.
Ben Vorlich. 943 metres. Completed. Historic County = Dunbartonshire.
Goatfell. 874 metres. Completed. Historic County = Buteshire. Present Day County = North Ayrshire.
Merrick. 843 metres. Completed. Historic County = Kirkcudbrightshire. Present Day County = Dumfries and Galloway.
Broad Law. 840 metres. Completed. Historic Counties = Peeblesshire and Selkirkshire. Present Day County = Scottish Borders.
White Coomb. 821 metres. Completed. Historic County = Dumfriesshire.
Kirriereoch Hill-North West Slope. 782 metres. Completed. Historic County = Ayreshire. Present Day County = South Ayrshire.
Mount Battock. 778 metres. Completed. Historic County = Kincardineshire.
Culter Fell. 748 metres. Completed. Historic County = Lanarkshire. Present Day County = South Lanarkshire.
Hangingstone Hill. 743 metres. Completed. Historic County = Roxburghshire.
Ben Cleuch. 721 metres. Completed. Historic County = Clackmannanshire. Present Day County = Clackmannanshire.
Carn a'Ghille Chearr. 710 metres. Historic County = Morayshire.
Morven. 706 metres. Historic County = Caithness.
Carn Glas-choire. 659 metres. Historic County = Nairnshire.
Blackhope Scar. 651 metres. Completed. Historic County = Midlothian. Present Day County = Midlothian.
Meikle Says Law. 535 metres. Completed. Historic County = East Lothian. Present Day County = East Lothian.
Meikle Says Law (boundary). 532 metres. Completed. Historic County = Berwickshire.
West Lomond. 522 metres. Completed. Historic County = Fife. Present Day County = Fife.
Hill of Stake. 522 metres. Completed. Historic County = Renfrewshire. Present Day County = Renfrewshire.
Innerdouny Hill. 497 metres. Completed. Historic County = Kinross-shire.
Ward Hill. 481 metres. Historic County = Orkney. Present Day County = Orkney.
Ronas Hill. 450 metres. Historic County = Shetland. Present Day County = Shetland.
Craigairie Fell. 321 metres. Completed. Historic County = Wigtownshire.
Cairnpapple Hill. 312 metres. Completed. Historic County = West Lothian.

Scotland’s Present Day County Tops

Scotland has 32 Unitary Authorities that replaced the 33 County Councils that existed from 1890 to 1975. More details on Present Day counties of Scotland.

The list above shows where a peak is both an Historic and a Present Day County Top. The 14 peaks shown below are distinct from the Historic County Tops.

Ben More. 1,174 metres, Stirling.
Ben Cruachan. 1,132 metres, Argyll and Bute.
An Cliseam / Clisham. 799 metres, Western Isles.
Blackcraig Hill. 700 metres, East Ayrshire.
East Cairn Hill. 567 metres, Edinburgh.
West Cairn Hill. 562 metres, West Lothian.
Cort-ma Law East Top. 527 metres, North Lanarkshire.
Creuch Hill. 441 metres, Inverclyde.
Duncolm. 407 metres, West Dunbartonshire.
Corse Hill. 376 metres, East Renfrewshire.
Darrach Hill. 357 metres, Falkirk.
Brimmond Hill. 265 metres, Completed. Aberdeen.
Cathkin Hill. 200 metres, Glasgow.
Gallow Hill. 175 metres, Completed. Dundee.

Scottish Counties Prior to 1890 (Shires)

The Shires were historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975. More details on the Scottish Shires.

The mountains below are the high points of the Scottish Shires that are distinct from either Historic or Present Day County Tops.

Sgurr Mor. Sgurr Mor 1003m, Cromartyshire.
- Carn Eige is the Historic & Present Day County Top of Ross and Cromarty.
Dun Rig. 774m, Selkirkshire.
- Broad Law is the Historic County Top of Selkirkshire and the Present Day County Top of Scottish Borders.
Carn nam Bain-tighearna. 634m, Nairnshire
- Ben Nevis is the County Top of Present-Day Highland