Although the mountain is seen as a conical peak when viewed from the Quoich dam this is quite misleading as the actual summit plateau extends westward for almost two kilometres culminating in the subsidiary top of Gairich Beag with a height of 730 metres before descending into the a' Mhaingir glen. Gairich is in fact the first peak in a chain of hills which extends westwards over the adjoining Munro of Sgurr Mòr to terminate at Sgurr na Cìche in the remote wilderness of Knoydart. The southern flank of the mountain descends steeply into the lonely Glen Kingie, this precipitous slope has a large impressive gully on it which is drained by the Allt am Fhamhair. Glen Kingie itself can be a difficult barrier when approaching Gairich from the south with the River Kingie being an impossible obstacle when it is in spate and needing wading at other times because of the absence of bridges. The Kinbreack bothy in Glen Kingie is a useful base for climbing the mountains in this area.