📌 Arrochar Alps, Argyll & Bute
★★★★
At only 915 metres high, Ben Vane is Scotland’s lowest Munro, but like many of the Arrochar Alps it’s a feisty one. Steep, craggy sides fall away towards Loch Lomond, navigated by an unrelenting but entertaining hill path with a few easy scrambles to keep you on your toes. The top cairn is under four miles from the lochside car park and is a great viewpoint for the rest of the range (if you’re lucky enough to get a decent day like we did); Ben Lomond and The Cobbler are just two of the celebrity summits visible from here.
📷 Chronological photo guide
Inveruglas 
Loch Lomond at Inveruglas 
Approach along a private tarmac road 
View back to Loch Lomond from the ascent 
Summit ahead 
Crags dwarf parts of the hill path 
A’ Chrois (right) from the ascent 
View back to Loch Lomond & Ben Lomond 
Ben Vorlich & Loch Sloy 
Summit approach 
East ridge of Ben Vane, Loch Lomond beyond 
Beinn Narnain (left) & Beinn Ime (right) from the summit 
North ridge
🌍 Location
📌 Start / finish on A82 at Inveruglas Pier
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NN 322099
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.251557,-4.708984
🚌 Bus stops on A82 | 🚢 Inveruglas Pier
🚗 Car park (charge)
📝 Key info
▶ 12 km / 7 mi | ▲ 930 m | ⌛ 4.5-5.5 hr
Features: 💧 Loch Lomond ★★★★; △ Ben Vane (916 m, Munro)
⬤ Tough | Roadside path for first 0.5 mi, then tarmac private road (with path to shortcut a long bend near start) and track to foot of hill. Steep hill path for ascent proper, occasionally boggy at first. A few short scrambles higher up are mostly avoidable.
Download file for GPS➡️ Out-and-back walk: start & Loch Lomond – start of road to Loch Sloy – leave track for hill path at 🧭 NN 295093 (two options at first – southerly one is longer but drier) – Ben Vane – return by outward route or similar
🥾 On our last visit
Wildlife: Butterflies and moths, cows and calfs, sheep and lambs; cuckoo heard.
Weather: Sunny, breezy high up, warm enough for shorts.
May 2018
