Weekly Route - Ben Lawers, Southern Highlands

Visitor Centre > Ben Lawers > An Stuc > Meall Gharb > Lawers

Distance: 9.5miles (15.2Km)	Height Gain: 4410 ft (1344m)
Overview: This route takes in Ben Lawers, Scotland's ninth highest mountain, along a classic high level ridge.	Maps: Ordnance Survey: Expl 378 / LR 51 Online: Streetmap
Strenuousness: 3 Technicality: 1 Photogenic Grade: 3	Start Point: NN 608 308

This route takes in Ben Lawers, Scotland's ninth highest mountain, along a classic high level ridge. Once on the ridge you never drop below 2500ft, and the views over Loch Tay justify its position as one of the most popular routes in the Southern Highlands.

The route is a linear walk, with a clued-up group using two cars if possible to avoid a tramp back down the main road to the start point. Car parking is available at the start using the National Trust Visitor Centre on the Lochan na Lairige road, with a small car park at Lawers available for the return trip.

Ben Lawers photographed by Barry Richardson Full-sized version from his OM gallery album

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Section 1 - NT Visitor Centre to Ben Lawers

Distance: 3.1 miles (5km)

Height Gain: 2838ft (865m)

From the visitor centre car park take the obvious timber walkway across waterlogged (even in summer) ground heading NE alongside the burn. Although the path is obvious throughout, a signpost after a quarter of a mile points the way up towards Ben Lawers.

You soon start the ascent up the grass covered slopes of the South Ridge of Beinn Ghlas, and to make sure you don't miss your way a constant line of cairns leads unerringly to the summit of Beinn Ghlas, the first of five munros on the route. The summit appears after two miles, and surprisingly has no summit cairn of its own. Be careful here as the north face has a steep drop of some 500ft.

A stunning winter view from the summit of Beinn Ghlas by Anthony Angus Full-sized version from his OM gallery album

By this stage you've passed the 3000 ft point and are on the main ridge with Ben Lawers ahead. The ridge between Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers is unmistakable, being both badly eroded and relatively straight. Drop down to a col then start up an initially rocky continuation before rejoining the familiar grass track. The angle of approach is consistent and never steep, and in no time you find yourself at the summit of Ben Lawers. From here you get impressive views down to Loch Tay.

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Section 2 - Ben Lawers to Meall Garbh

Distance: 1.6 miles (2.53Km)

Height Gain: 1017ft (310m)

From the summit of Ben Lawers the main ridge heads north, dropping steadily to the minor bump of Creag an Fithich.

Keep left as you approach the obvious summit of An Stuc, as the east face drops steeply down to Lochan nan Cat. Having paused to take in the views at An Stuc take care on the steep grassy descent to the the col that separates An Stuc from Meall Garbh. In bad weather it's wise to move slightly north at this point where less precipitous ground leads you back to the 400ft of ascent up to your fourth Munro of the day.

The ridge from Beinn Ghlas to Ben Lawers by Nigel Pexton Full-sized version from his OM gallery album

For the best views continue past the western summit cairn of Meall Garbh to a second cairn standing on a rock outcrop. Here you can take in both the steep drops to Lochan nan Cat and the view back along the Ben Lawers ridge.

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Section 3 - Meall Garbh to Lawers

Distance: 4.7 miles (7.6Km)

Height Gain: 555ft (169m)

From the top of Meall Garbh follow the ridge east over featureless and relatively level ground. This section can be difficult to navigate in poor weather so take care. Pass a series of water courses heading south off the flanks of the ridge to reach the summit of Meall Greigh, the fifth and final Munro of the day.

The second cairn on the flat top of Meall Greigh marks the true summit. From here drop initially south east down the grassy flank to join a feeder of Lawers Burn, then take the left hand bank of the burn steadily downhill on a well defined path to Machuim Farm. A little beyond this you meet the main road at Visitor and the end of a classic day of Scottish ridge walking. On a clear day you'll find it hard to match this route anywhere in Scotland.

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Route Map