📌 Comrie, Perth & Kinross
★★★
Ben Chonzie’s accessible position – fewer than 50 miles from both Glasgow and Edinburgh – makes it one of Scotland’s busier summits, and a popular choice as a first Munro. Yet it’s saddled with an unenviable reputation as a dull hill, thanks to some rather featureless upper slopes and a broad plateau which robs the summit panorama of airiness and depth. Our favourite route up the hill is from the less popular Loch Turret side, but this page describes the “tourist” route from Glen Lednock in ascent. Decent tracks and only a little boggy ground make for a relatively straightforward climb, with good views looking back west compensating for less interesting immediate surroundings. The hill also reputedly has a healthy mountain hare population, so keep eyes peeled around the summit plateau. Finally, we’ve varied the return with a pathless descent to the Invergeldie Burn, allowing a circular route and views of a much quieter side of the hill – include or omit according to your preferences. In normal (snow-free) conditions the entire walk should be achievable in around 5 hours at average pace, which comes in useful during short winter daylight hours.
📷 Chronological photo guide
Start of the walk at Invergeldie 
Ascent track 
Ben Chonzie from the ascent 
Looking back towards the West Highlands 
A cairn marks where to leave the track 
Approaching the summit plateau 
Looking north from the plateau 
Looking north from the plateau 
Looking back over the final summit approach 
Loch Turret from the summit area 
Ben Chonzie summit shelter 
View west from the pathless descent 
Looking back up at the descent route 
Invergeldie Burn 
Return track along the Invergeldie Burn 
Invergeldie Burn – Ben Chonzie behind 
Return track along the Invergeldie Burn
🌍 Location
📌 Start / finish on minor road in Glen Lednock, 4 mi northwest of Comrie
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NN 743273
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.420893,-4.039373
❌ No public transport within 1 mi
🚗 Car park
📝 Key info
▶ 13 km / 8 mi | ▲ 740 m | ⌛ 4.5-5.5 hr
Features: △ Ben Chonzie (931 m, Munro)
⬤ Tough | Clear track for lower half of route, sustained ascent. Second half of ascent is on a wide but faint path; descent to Invergeldie Burn is steep and pathless on grass – or you could return by the ascent route.
Download file for GPS➡️ Anticlockwise lollipop circuit: start – Creag Gharbh – Ben Chonzie – Coire Riabhach – track along Invergeldie Burn – rejoin outward route – start
🥾 On our last visit
Wildlife: A couple of mountain hares, red grouse by Invergeldie Burn. Hairy caterpillars and sheep lower down, chickens at the start.
Weather: Often sunny, some cloudy periods, snow showers visible to the west. Just below freezing on the summit with ice on puddles, cold north wind. Intermittent snow cover above 800m – more substantial on summits to west.
October 2019
