Ben Nevis
The highest mountain in the British Isles. Ben Nevis (1,345m) rises above Glen Nevis on the south side of Fort William; the Mountain Track up its west flank carries close to 100,000 walkers a year, while the CMD Arête and the North Face are the preserve of committed hill-folk.
Ben Nevis (Beinn Nibheis) is the highest mountain in the British Isles at 1,345 metres (4,413 ft) — a flat-topped basalt-and-andesite massif rising above Glen Nevis on the south-east side of Fort William. It sits inside the Lochaber region, but it draws visitors who think of Ben Nevis itself as the destination, which is why it earns its own page here.
The standard ascent is the Mountain Track (still called the Tourist Path on older signs), an engineered zig-zag route starting from the Ben Nevis Visitor Centre car park in Glen Nevis. It is about 17 km return, around 1,300 m of ascent, and most fit walkers take 7–8 hours including a stop at the summit. The path is well constructed but the upper sections are loose scree, and the summit plateau is featureless — in cloud, the cliffs of the North Face are alarmingly close to the standard descent line, and navigation by compass becomes essential.
For more committed hill-folk, the CMD Arête (the link from Carn Mòr Dearg over a narrow ridge to the Ben Nevis summit) is the classic line — a serious mountaineering day involving exposed scrambling, traditionally rated as one of the finest ridge walks in Britain. The North Face is a separate world entirely, with Tower Ridge, Observatory Ridge and the routes out of Coire na Ciste being among the UK’s most respected mountaineering objectives in winter conditions.
Glen Nevis, the long valley running south-east from Fort William past the foot of Ben Nevis, is also the access for Steall Falls — at around 120 metres one of the UK’s tallest waterfalls, reached by a roughly 2.5 km walk from the upper Glen Nevis car park along a path that picks its way through the river gorge. The falls and Steall Meadow are spectacular and frequently photographed, and the gorge walk is the better objective for visitors without the time or fitness for the full mountain.
Practical notes
The Visitor Centre car park is the standard start point and fills by mid-morning in summer; arrive early or use the Glen Nevis Caravan Park overflow if it’s full. Conditions on the summit are roughly six hundred metres colder than at the visitor centre — wind chill, freezing temperatures and white-out conditions are possible any month of the year. Take map, compass, full waterproofs, food, water and a head torch even on a long summer day. If in doubt about your party’s fitness or the weather, the Steall Falls walk in Glen Nevis is the better day out; the mountain will still be there next time.
Places around Ben Nevis
Trails through Ben Nevis
- route · hiking Ben Nevis via the Càrn Mòr Dearg Arête The classic mountaineering route on Ben Nevis — over Càrn Mòr Dearg (1,220 m) and along the airy connecting arête to the summit. 17.9 km, 1,500+ m ascent, 10–13 hours, Grade 1 scramble. The finest way to climb Ben Nevis for fit walkers comfortable with exposure.
- route · walking Steall Falls and the Nevis Gorge The classic Glen Nevis gorge walk — through the Nevis Gorge to the meadow below An Steall Bàn, Britain's second-highest waterfall (~120 m). 5 km, 1.5–2 hours, moderate. The wire bridge across the river Nevis is famously vertiginous (and entirely optional).
- route · hiking · walking Ben Nevis Mountain Track The standard route up Ben Nevis — the well-engineered late-Victorian path from Glen Nevis Visitor Centre to the summit. 17 km return, 1,352 m of ascent, 7–9 hours. Tough rather than technical; the difficulty is the cumulative climb on tired feet.
- route · hiking · walking West Highland Way Scotland's most-walked long-distance trail — Milngavie on the northern edge of Glasgow to Fort William, 96 miles through Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor, and Glencoe. The standard introduction to long-distance walking in Scotland and the busiest of the Great Trails by some margin.