Number 10 of 282 by height · Southeastern Highlands
Ben Lawers
Beinn Labhair
3,983 ft (1,214 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 635 414
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.54493, -4.22086
- Area
- Southeastern Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 3.5 mi (5.6 km)
- Climb
- 2,858 ft (871 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 35 min
- Start
- Ben Lawers
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Cloudy
- Temperature
- 34°F (1°C)
- Wind chill
- 30°F (−1°C)
- Wind
- 4 mph (7 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 91%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,639 ft (1,414 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:24, 16:36
The way up
From Ben Lawers, follow the path north-east all the way to the summit, 3.2 mi, climbing steeply from 1,350 ft to 4,000 ft. On the way you cross a bridge and the Burn of Edramurchy and go over Beinn Ghlas (3,600 ft). The steepest part is between 3,250 ft and 3,950 ft, about 2.8 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,983 ft (1,214 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
Ben Lawers. Pay to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Ben Lawers car park56.51086,-4.26268
By train
Nearest station: Crianlarich, 16 mi (26 km) from the car park. Too far to walk in from.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Station Road Turning Circle, 3.5 mi (5.6 km) from the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Campsite: Cruachan Farm Caravan and Camping Park 1.2 mi (1.9 km)
- Place to eat: The Boathouse 1.4 mi (2.2 km)
From OpenStreetMap. Places close or change hours, especially in winter, so check before you rely on one.
Public transport directionsBus and train times on Traveline Scotland
About Ben Lawers
- In Gaelic
- Beinn Labhair
Ben Lawers is the highest mountain in Breadalbane and in Perthshire and the high point of the ridge of seven Munros north of Loch Tay. It rises 2,999 ft (914 m) above the col that links it to higher ground, and its nearest higher Munro, Aonach Beag, is 32.9 miles away. Built of calcareous mica-schist, it carries alpine forget-me-not, roseroot and most of the saxifrages.
The southern slopes, farmed since early times, hold Bronze Age remains, cup and ring marked boulders and old shielings. The earliest recorded ascent was by a party organised by William Roy, which took measurements from the summit on 17 September 1776. The tall cairn of 1878 was ignored by the Ordnance Survey and is long gone.
Much of the south side has belonged to the National Trust for Scotland since 1950, bought with help from the mountaineer Percy Unna, and the range has been a National Nature Reserve since 1964. A trig point marks the summit, with a rock 5 m north of very similar height.
Tops on Ben Lawers
One lower summit in the Munro tables, not counted as separate Munros. Keen baggers tick these too.
| Top | Height | From the summit |
|---|---|---|
| Creag an FhithichNN 635 422 | 3,435 ft (1,047 m) | 0.5 mi (0.8 km) |
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Ben Lawers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Beinn Ghlas | 3,619 ft (1,103 m) | 0.9 mi (1.4 km) |
| An Stuc | 3,665 ft (1,117 m) | 1.1 mi (1.7 km) |
| Meall Corranaich | 3,507 ft (1,069 m) | 1.3 mi (2.0 km) |
Part of a bigger day: 6 Munros in one go, Meall a' Choire Leith, Meall Corranaich, Beinn Ghlas, Meall Garbh, An Stuc.
Common questions about Ben Lawers
- How high is Ben Lawers?
- Ben Lawers is 3,983 ft (1,214 m), number 10 of the 282 Munros by height, in the Southeastern Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Ben Lawers?
- About 2 h 35 min up and 1 h 15 min back down by our route from Ben Lawers, before stops: 3.5 mi (5.6 km) each way with 2,858 ft (871 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Ben Lawers?
- Our route starts at Ben Lawers. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Ben Lawers without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Crianlarich, 16 mi (26 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Station Road Turning Circle, 3.5 mi (5.6 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Ben Lawers a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 2,858 ft (871 m) of ascent over 3.5 mi (5.6 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.
- Can you climb other Munros with Ben Lawers?
- Yes. Ben Lawers can be linked with Meall a' Choire Leith, Meall Corranaich, Beinn Ghlas, Meall Garbh, An Stuc along the ridge, for 6 Munros in one long day. See Big days for the full plan.
- When is the best time to climb Ben Lawers?
- 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 Southeastern Highlands before you go.
Questions
Where can I get a proper mountain forecast?
Read the Mountain Weather Information Service forecast for the Southeastern 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. The start and the line were chosen by hand from the usual way up. A line on a map is not a description of the ground.
- Path geometry: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Overpass API extract fetched 2026-10-24T16:43:53.589Z, 13 OSM ways routed with Dijkstra (shortest distance; trunk/primary/secondary roads penalised so they are used only where no path exists).
- Elevation: Copernicus DEM GLO-90 via the Open-Meteo Elevation API, sampled every 50 m, smoothed with a 5-sample rolling median; ascent/descent summed with a 5 m hysteresis band; the 90 m DEM also rounds off summits, so maxElevM can sit below the surveyed height.
- Summit position: Database of British and Irish Hills v18 (CC BY 4.0).
Built 2026-10-24.
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 35 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 Lawers is hill 141 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.