Number 182 of 282 by height · West Highlands
Ben Lomond
Beinn Laomainn
3,195 ft (974 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 367 028
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.19030, -4.63303
- Area
- West Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 3.9 mi (6.2 km)
- Climb
- 3,127 ft (953 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 50 min
- Start
- Car park near Rowardennan
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 20:25. 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
- 0%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 3,750 ft (1,143 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:25, 16:38
The way up
From Car park near Rowardennan, follow the path north-east for 1.2 mi, climbing steadily from 60 ft to 980 ft. On the way you pass Loch Lomond on your right, cross a bridge and go over Creagan Breac. It then turns north for 1.9 mi, climbing steeply from 980 ft to 2,650 ft. On the way you go over Sron Aonaich (1,900 ft). It then turns north-west for the last 0.6 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 2,650 ft to 3,200 ft. The steepest part is between 870 ft and 1,700 ft, about 1.2 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,195 ft (974 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 near Rowardennan. Pay to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Ben Lomond car park56.15238,-4.64227
By train
Nearest station: Arrochar and Tarbet, 4.7 mi (7.6 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Inverbeg Hotel, 0.8 mi (1.4 km) from the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Toilets by the start
- Shop: Rowardennan Shop 0.2 mi (0.3 km)
- Pub: The Clansman 0.2 mi (0.3 km)
- Hostel: Rowardennan Lodge Youth Hostel 0.4 mi (0.6 km)
- Campsite: Rowardennan Lodge Youth Hostel 0.4 mi (0.7 km)
- Hostel: Ben Lomond Bunkhouse 0.4 mi (0.7 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 Lomond
- In Gaelic
- Beinn Laomainn
- Means
- Beacon mountain
Ben Lomond stands on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, within the Ben Lomond National Memorial Park and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, on land owned by the National Trust for Scotland. Its craggy summit looks conical from the Arrochar Alps. Two parallel ridges run south-south-east, the Sron Aonaich to the east and the Ptarmigan ridge to the west, and north of the summit they join and drop to a col at 1,496 ft (456 m) with the Graham Cruin a' Bheinn.
On a clear day it can be seen from the higher parts of Glasgow and even from Ben Nevis, over 40 miles away. Its high ground may hold Scotland's most southerly breeding ptarmigan. It features in the folk song The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond.
It rises 2,690 ft (820 m) above the col that links it to higher ground. In perfect conditions the farthest point visible from the top is Knocklayd in the Antrim Hills, 95 miles away. The true summit is a rock outcrop about 4 m south-east of the trig point.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Ben Lomond 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 Narnain | 3,041 ft (927 m) | 6.4 mi (10 km) |
| Ben Vane | 3,004 ft (916 m) | 7.0 mi (11 km) |
| Ben Vorlich | 3,094 ft (943 m) | 7.4 mi (12 km) |
Common questions about Ben Lomond
- How high is Ben Lomond?
- Ben Lomond is 3,195 ft (974 m), number 182 of the 282 Munros by height, in the West Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Ben Lomond?
- About 2 h 50 min up and 1 h 20 min back down by our route from Car park near Rowardennan, before stops: 3.9 mi (6.2 km) each way with 3,127 ft (953 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Ben Lomond?
- Our route starts at Car park near Rowardennan. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Ben Lomond without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Arrochar and Tarbet, 4.7 mi (7.6 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Inverbeg Hotel, 0.8 mi (1.4 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Ben Lomond a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 3,127 ft (953 m) of ascent over 3.9 mi (6.2 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.
- What does Ben Lomond mean?
- In Gaelic it is Beinn Laomainn. It is usually translated as "beacon mountain".
- When is the best time to climb Ben Lomond?
- 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. 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 2026-10-24T16:42:52.522Z, 10 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 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 Lomond is hill 32 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.