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Ben Nevis, a snow patch near its top, rising behind a nearer hill above sunlit mist over Fort William.
Ben Nevis, the Mamores and the Grey Corries

Ben Nevis

A Munro of 1,345 metres, number 1 of the 282.

On the hill todayI was up today
The hill

Ben Nevis stands above Fort William and Glen Nevis: at 1,345 metres, in its keepers' figure, the highest mountain in Britain.

The John Muir Trust owns the summit and keeps the upper stretch of the path. An observatory was built on top in the summer of 1883 and worked for 21 years.

The mountain track starts at the Ben Nevis Visitor Centre in Glen Nevis and climbs to the summit by a series of sharp bends known as the zigzags. It has no signposts, is rocky and can be dangerously slippery, especially when wet. Near the summit cliffs a line of cairns guides walkers when the cloud allows.

Distance and time
10 miles there and back, normally 6 to 8 hours and sometimes longer, by the Nevis Landscape Partnership's reckoning.
Starts from
The Ben Nevis Visitor Centre on Glen Nevis Road, 2 miles from the centre of Fort William
Half way
The Red Burn. If it has taken you 2 hours to get there, allow at least as long again to the summit.
Take care
The Nevis Landscape Partnership warns that snow covers the path and makes it very hard to follow: beware of overhanging cornices ready to break away. All round the summit is steep, dangerous ground: the cliffs of the north-east face, and Five Finger Gully, where a deceptively gentle slope quickly leads to steep, dangerous cliffs.
Summit
Grid reference NN 166 712
Car park
Ben Nevis Visitor Centre, Glen Nevis Road, Fort William PH33 6ST. In 2026, £8 a day, first come, first served. It is small and fills early in the morning.
Without the car
Leave the car where you are staying or in Fort William, the land managers ask, and walk, cycle or take the bus into Glen Nevis. In the summer months Shiel Buses runs a limited service on its N41 route.
Toilets and food
The Visitor Centre has toilets and is open from 8am to 4pm every day. There are none on the hill, and no litter bins. Fort William is 2 miles away.
On the hill today
−2° to 0°Drizzle on the summit, 1,345 m. Feels like −6° in the wind.

West wind to 12 mph, gusting 24
Rain, about 6 mm
Light from 7.54am to 6.16pm, ten hours

Sat 17Cloudy−3° to 1° on top · 8 mph, gusts 19
Sun 18Mostly clear−5° to 1° on top · 10 mph, gusts 20
Mon 19Fog−7° to 3° on top · 4 mph, gusts 9

A weather model's forecast for the height of the summit, not a report from the hill. Read the mountain forecast the evening before: West Highlands forecast, Ben Nevis, Lochaber avalanche forecast.

October2026

MTWTFSS

Going another day?

Choose the day you mean to climb.Near or far: the light you will have, and what the summit is likely to be doing.

Photographs by VisitScotland / Airborne Lens, Stacie Paul, Red (RedRocker) and Chris curran, via Google

When you leave the summit ensure you are returning by the correct path by taking a bearing on your compass.The Nevis Landscape Partnership, the hill's land managers, working together
Before you go

Carry

  • A paper map and a compass, and the skill to use them
  • Waterproofs, warm layers, hat and gloves
  • Food and drink
  • A head torch, a whistle and a first aid kit
  • A survival bag
  • Boots with a good grip

Under snow and ice this is a different day, with short light and the risk of avalanche. It needs an ice axe, crampons, winter boots and the skill to use them.

If something goes wrong

  • Dial 999, ask for the police, then mountain rescue
  • Give a six-figure grid reference: the summit is NN 166 712
  • Say how many are hurt, how many are with you, and your number
  • Register to text 999 before the day: text the word register to 999

The summit is optional. Turning back is the right decision whenever the cloud, the wind or the light say so.

How to call for help in the hills · Safety and skills for the hills · ThinkWINTER

From our readers

Nobody has written from Ben Nevis yet. If you were up, yours would be the first.

Tell the next person

Were you up? Three words is enough.A free account, a word for the weather and a line if you like.

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From the magazine
Read more elsewhere

For the route itself, take the map and read these.

Sleep and eat at its foot

Next along: Carn Mor Dearg, Aonach Beag, Aonach Mor, Sgurr a' Mhaim. Checked on 9 October 2026. The facts on this page are the John Muir Trust's, the Nevis Landscape Partnership's, High Life Highland's and Shiel Buses'; the forecasts are the Mountain Weather Information Service's, the Met Office's and the Scottish Avalanche Information Service's. Height and position from The Database of British and Irish Hills, v18.3, adapted, CC BY 4.0. This page is not a route description and does not replace a map.