Ben Nevis Ben Nevis by the Mountain Track from Glen Nevis
- Distance, one way
- 5.0 mi (8.1 km)
- Ascent
- 4,308 ft (1,313 m)
- Estimated time up
- 3 h 50 min
The way up
From Car park near Ben Nevis Visitor Centre, follow the path south-east for 1.6 mi, climbing steadily from 60 ft to 1,200 ft. On the way you cross the River Nevis by a bridge. It then turns north-east for 0.6 mi, climbing steeply from 1,200 ft to 1,900 ft. It then turns south-east for 1.2 mi, climbing steeply from 1,900 ft to 3,050 ft. On the way you cross the Allt na n-Urchaire. It then turns east for the last 1.4 mi to the summit, climbing steeply from 3,050 ft to 4,400 ft. The steepest part is between 760 ft and 1,700 ft, about 1.3 mi from the start. The summit is at 4,411 ft (1,345 m).
Written from the map, not from walking it. Paths on the ground can differ, so carry a map and compass.
Take it on the hill
Save this route to your phone before you go. With no signal, open this page and press the location button on the map: your phone's GPS shows where you are on the route.
Record your walk
Draws your actual line on the map and saves it on this phone. Reach the summit and it ticks Ben Nevis off for you. Keep this page open: phones pause recording when the screen locks.
Plan your day
Up by the estimated time, back down the same way, plus your stops. Sunrise and sunset at the car park.
Walk the route
Your system asks for reduced motion, so the camera stays still. The slider still moves the marker on the map and the profile.
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 20:25. Not live.
- Weather
- Fair
- Temperature
- 28°F (−2°C)
- Wind
- 2 mph (3 km/h) from the north
- Cloud cover
- 14%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 3,350 ft (1,021 m), below the summit
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:28, 16:38
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 2026-10-24T16:42:23.640Z, 21 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 3 h 50 min, one way. It ignores rough ground, weather, stops and the walk back down, so most people take longer.
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 Nevis is hill 278 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.