Number 31 of 282 by height · West Highlands
Ben Cruachan
Cruachan Beann
3,698 ft (1,127 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 069 304
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.42685, -5.13185
- Area
- West Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 3.1 mi (5.0 km)
- Climb
- 3,655 ft (1,114 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 50 min
- Start
- Car park by Falls of Cruachan station
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Clear sky
- Temperature
- 34°F (1°C)
- Wind chill
- 31°F (−1°C)
- Wind
- 4 mph (6 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 7%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,304 ft (1,312 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:28, 16:40
The way up
From Car park by Falls of Cruachan station, follow the path north for 0.7 mi, climbing steeply from 190 ft to 1,050 ft. On the way you pass Loch Awe on your left. Then follow the road north-west for 0.4 mi, climbing steadily from 1,050 ft to 1,300 ft. On the way you cross the Alt Cruachan by a bridge. Then follow the path north-west for the last 1.8 mi to the summit, climbing very steeply from 1,300 ft to 3,700 ft. On the way you pass Cruachan Reservoir on your right, go over Meall Cuanail (3,000 ft) and reach the bealach of Bealach an Lochain. The steepest part is between 2,800 ft and 3,600 ft, about 2.5 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,698 ft (1,127 m).
Written from the map, not from walking it. Paths on the ground can differ, so carry a map and compass.See it in 3D.
Getting there
By car
Car park by Falls of Cruachan station. Parking charge not known. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Ben Cruachan car park56.39357,-5.11144
By train
Nearest station: Falls of Cruachan, right by the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: St Conans Road junction, 2.1 mi (3.4 km) from the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Public transport directionsBus and train times on Traveline Scotland
About Ben Cruachan
- In Gaelic
- Cruachan Beann
Ben Cruachan is the high point of a ring of hills known as the Cruachan Horseshoe, which surrounds the reservoir of the Cruachan power station. The horseshoe also takes in the Munro Stob Daimh, 1.6 miles away, the Corbett Beinn a' Bhuiridh and several subsidiary summits. Stob Dearg (Taynuilt Peak), Drochaid Ghlas and Meall Cuanail are listed as Tops of Ben Cruachan.
At 3,698 ft (1,127 m) it ranks 31st of the 282 Munros, and it rises 2,887 ft (880 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, with the nearest higher Munro, Ben Lui, 12.5 miles away. The summit is a rock about 3 m from the destroyed trig point.
Tops on Ben Cruachan
3 lower summits in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Stob Dearg [Taynuilt Peak]NN 062 307 | 3,619 ft (1,103 m) | 0.5 mi (0.8 km) |
| Drochaid GhlasNN 083 307 | 3,361 ft (1,024 m) | 0.9 mi (1.4 km) |
| Meall CuanailNN 069 295 | 3,019 ft (920 m) | 0.6 mi (0.9 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Ben Cruachan in the middle of each month. The shorter the day, the earlier you need to start.
Stag stalking season, 1 July to 20 October. On many estates, walkers are asked to keep to set routes on stalking days: check the Scottish Outdoor Access Code site's Heading for the Scottish Hills service before you go.
Nearest Munros
| Munro | Height | Straight-line distance |
|---|---|---|
| Stob Daimh | 3,278 ft (999 m) | 1.6 mi (2.5 km) |
| Beinn a' Chochuill | 3,215 ft (980 m) | 2.9 mi (4.7 km) |
| Beinn Eunaich | 3,245 ft (989 m) | 4.3 mi (7.0 km) |
Common questions about Ben Cruachan
- How high is Ben Cruachan?
- Ben Cruachan is 3,698 ft (1,127 m), number 31 of the 282 Munros by height, in the West Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Ben Cruachan?
- About 2 h 50 min up and 1 h 5 min back down by our route from Car park by Falls of Cruachan station, before stops: 3.1 mi (5.0 km) each way with 3,655 ft (1,114 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Ben Cruachan?
- Our route starts at Car park by Falls of Cruachan station.
- Can you climb Ben Cruachan without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Falls of Cruachan, right by the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is St Conans Road junction, 2.1 mi (3.4 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Ben Cruachan a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 3,655 ft (1,114 m) of ascent over 3.1 mi (5.0 km). Like every Munro it reaches over 3,000 ft, where the weather can be far worse than at the car park, so take a map and compass and check the mountain forecast.
- When is the best time to climb Ben Cruachan?
- Daylight runs from about 18 hours in mid June to 7 hours in mid December, so summer gives the most time. From 1 July to 20 October it is the stag stalking season, when some estates ask walkers to keep to set routes. In winter, snow and ice turn most Munros into mountaineering terrain.
A guide only. Mountain conditions change fast: carry a map and compass and know how to use them, and read the mountain forecast for the West Highlands before you go.
Questions
Where can I get a proper mountain forecast?
Read the Mountain Weather Information Service forecast for the West Highlands, written by forecasters for walkers and climbers. In winter, also read the Scottish Avalanche Information Service report for the area.
Where does the summit weather come from?
From MET Norway's forecast model, fetched for every Munro once an hour at the summit's own height. It is computer output for one point, not a forecast written for mountains, so treat it as a guide. The past hours are what the forecast said at the time. Wind chill, the freezing level and sunrise and sunset are worked out by this site from those figures; the freezing level assumes temperature drops steadily with height, so it can be well out when cold air sits in the glens.
How was this route drawn?
It follows footpaths and tracks mapped on OpenStreetMap, from a public car park to the summit, with heights from Copernicus elevation data. A computer picked the start as the car park with the quickest mapped way up, counting the climbing as well as the distance. Nobody has checked it on the hill yet, so it may not be the usual way up, and the path may be faint or missing on the ground. A line on a map is not a description of the ground.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T19:56:08.831Z. Start chosen automatically: the public car park on a public road with the shortest mapped-path route to the summit (busy roads and T4 paths weighted against).
- Elevation: Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (© DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA), sampled every 50 m, 3-sample median, 5 m hysteresis on ascent.
- Summit position: Database of British and Irish Hills v18 (CC BY 4.0).
Built 2026-10-25.
How is the time up worked out?
With Naismith's rule, the standard hill-walking estimate: an hour for every 3.1 miles (5 km), plus an hour for every 1,969 ft (600 m) of climbing, with no stops. For this route that gives about 2 h 50 min, one way. It ignores rough ground, weather, stops and the walk back down, so most people take longer.
Where do the car parks and bus stops come from?
From OpenStreetMap. Distances are straight lines, not the way you would walk or drive. A bus stop on the map says nothing about how often a bus calls: many Highland buses run a few times a day, some only on school days or by booking, so check Traveline Scotland first. The map cannot tell whether a car park is on a public road, so a remote one may only be reachable on foot or by train.
Where do the Gaelic names and stories come from?
From the hill's article on English Wikipedia and its Wikidata entry, put into a few words of our own. Meanings and pronunciations are only given where the article states them; many Gaelic hill names are old and their meaning is uncertain. Read the full article.
Where do the height and grid reference come from?
From the Database of British and Irish Hills, the surveyed list most baggers use. Ben Cruachan is hill 232 there.
Sources: Database of British and Irish Hills (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap (ODbL), MET Norway (CC BY 4.0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikidata, Copernicus elevation data, Sentinel-2 cloudless imagery by EOX. All credits and licences.