Ben Lawers – Up the Reserve and Over Beinn Ghlas

The walk

The usual way up Ben Lawers starts at the National Trust for Scotland's car park on the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve. On the way it crosses the top of Beinn Ghlas, a Munro of 1,103 metres. By our map it is about 11.5 km (7 miles) there and back, with about 1,000 metres of climb, counting the climb back over Beinn Ghlas. Allow about 5 to 6 hours, more with stops, in poor weather or under snow, and leave plenty of daylight for the way down. The summit is 1,214 metres up. The last climb to it is steep and rocky, and where the path has worn away it is more scrambling than walking.

The car park is on the minor road that leaves the A827 about five miles east of Killin and climbs over to Glen Lyon. By our map the road is one lane wide, with few places to pass, so take care on it. The car park is pay and display, and free for the Trust's members: ask the Trust about the charge before you set out, on 01567 820988. On fine weekends it is often full by 9am. There are no toilets at the start, so plan for Killin or Kenmore.

Before you set off, check the mountain forecast, and under snow the snow and avalanche conditions too, as Mountaineering Scotland advises for every trip. Conditions on the hills are often much colder and windier than down by the loch, Forestry and Land Scotland warns. Wear good walking boots and carry warm, waterproof clothing, plenty of food and drink, and a torch in case the day runs long. Carry a map and compass and know how to use them, and do not rely only on a phone or GPS. If you have not been trained to use them in poor visibility, plan to turn back early by a safe route, Killin Mountain Rescue Team advises. Leave word with someone of where you are going and when you will be back.

From the car park the path crosses the road, by our map, and runs north over a boardwalk. It climbs beside the Edramucky Burn into a fenced enclosure, which keeps sheep off the ground inside. Near the bottom a path goes off over the burn on a bridge, by our map: keep on up the main path beside the burn. By our map it fords the burn about a kilometre up, and after heavy rain the crossing can run high: turn back if it looks unsafe. The mountain plants here are fragile, the Trust says, so keep to the path as far as possible and leave the plants where they grow. Keep dogs under control: local farmers graze the Trust's hill ground.

Leave the enclosure by its gate and keep right at the path junction just beyond it. The other path, north-west under Beinn Ghlas, is the way many walkers come down. Here the climb begins in earnest, on the zigzag path the Trust built up the south-west ridge of Beinn Ghlas to control erosion on a popular route. It grows steeper towards the top, with crags falling away on the left, and the last stretch below the summit of Beinn Ghlas is rocky. In cloud keep to the path, away from the edge.

From the top of Beinn Ghlas the path drops about 100 metres to the bealach, then climbs about 210 metres to the summit of Ben Lawers, by our map. That last climb is the steepest of the day, on loose, eroded ground. One guide calls it more scrambling than walking where the surface has worn away. Another found the last 100 metres or so like a scramble up loose stones. Take it slowly going up, and with more care coming down.

The bealach is the place to decide. If the cloud is coming down, the wind is rising or anyone is tiring, turn back: Forestry and Land Scotland asks walkers to turn back if they get tired. Out on the hill there are no waymarks, and paths can be hard to follow in cloud. Under snow it is a winter mountain: frozen snow and icy steps can last into May, and the ridge and the bealach need crampons and an ice axe. Most mountain incidents involve people slipping on hard snow without crampons or losing their way in mist, Killin Mountain Rescue Team says. No avalanche forecast covers Ben Lawers. The Scottish Avalanche Information Service forecasts six other areas, from Lochaber and Glencoe to the Cairngorms and Torridon, which is no sign there is no risk here.

The summit is 1,214 metres, the highest in Tayside in the words of the Trust, which has owned most of the mountain's south side since 1950. In 1878 twenty men built a great cairn on the top to lift it above 4,000 feet. The cairn has gone, and the Ordnance Survey never counted it. Paths run on from the summit to the other Munros of the range: they are not this walk.

The way down is the way you came: back to the bealach, up and over Beinn Ghlas again, and down its ridge and through the enclosure to the car park. Many walkers instead take a path from the bealach round the north-west side of Beinn Ghlas, which rejoins the way up just outside the enclosure. In winter that path can be treacherously icy with frozen meltwater, one guide warns. If someone is hurt, dial 999 and ask for the police, Killin Mountain Rescue Team says, and give a grid reference if you can: the Ordnance Survey's OS Locate app gives one from your phone.