Hiking & Biking

Hiking & Biking

Hiking

The area around Glen Nevis, Glencoe, and Ben Nevis is very popular with hikers; however, routes are not well-marked, so contact the Fort William tourist information center before you go. The center will provide you with route advice based on your interests, level of fitness, and hiking experience.

Ben Nevis is a large and dangerous mountain, where snow can fall on the summit plateau any time of the year. Several excellent guides are available locally; they should be consulted for high-altitude routes.

For a walk in Glen Nevis, drive north from Fort William on the A82 toward Fort Augustus. On the outskirts of town, just before the bridge over the River Nevis, turn right up the unclassified road signposted Glen Nevis. Drive about 6 mi, past a youth hostel, a campground, and a few houses, and cross the River Nevis over the bridge at Achriabhach (Lower Falls). Notice the southern flanks of Ben Nevis rising steeply to the east and the Mamores mountains to the west. Park at a parking lot about 2 1/2 mi from the bridge. Starting here, a footpath leads to waterfalls and a steel-cabled bridge (1 mi), and then to Steall, a ruined croft beside a boulder-strewn stream (a good picnic place). You can continue up the glen for some distance without danger of becoming lost, so long as you stay on the path and keep the river to your right. Watch your step going through the tree-lined gorge. The return route is back the way you came.

Bicycling

For a thrilling ride down Ben Nevis, take the gondola up to the beginning of the Nevis Range Mountain Bike Track (open from May to September, weather permitting) and then shoot off on a 2,000-foot descent. Rent mountain and road bikes from Off Beat Bikes (117 High St. 01397/704008. www.offbeatbikes.co.uk).