Number 280 of 282 by height · West Highlands
Ben Vane
Beinn Mheadhain
3,004 ft (916 m)
Facts
- Grid reference
- NN 277 098
- Latitude, longitude
- 56.24979, -4.78167
- Area
- West Highlands
The walk up
- Distance, one way
- 3.7 mi (5.9 km)
- Climb
- 2,959 ft (902 m)
- Estimated time up
- 2 h 40 min
- Start
- Car park near Inveruglas
Route picked by computer, not yet checked on the hill
Summit conditions
From Sunday 1 November, 17:07. Not live.
- Weather
- Clear sky
- Temperature
- 36°F (2°C)
- Wind chill
- 32°F (0°C)
- Wind
- 4 mph (7 km/h) from the northwest
- Cloud cover
- 11%
- Rain or snow, next hour
- None
- Freezing level, rough estimate
- 4,012 ft (1,223 m)
- Sunrise, sunset
- 07:26, 16:39
The way up
From Car park near Inveruglas, follow the path south-west for 0.7 mi, climbing gently from 70 ft to 190 ft. On the way you pass Loch Lomond on your left and cross a bridge. Then follow the road west for 1.2 mi, climbing gently from 190 ft to 510 ft. Then follow the track south-west for 0.3 mi, climbing steadily from 510 ft to 640 ft. On the way you cross the Inveruglas Water by a bridge. Then follow the path west for the last 1.3 mi to the summit, climbing very steeply from 640 ft to 3,000 ft. The steepest part is between 1,350 ft and 2,650 ft, about 2.7 mi from the start. The summit is at 3,004 ft (916 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 Inveruglas. Pay to park. This is where the walking route starts.
Driving directions to the Ben Vane car park56.25196,-4.70863
By train
Nearest station: Arrochar and Tarbet, 3.4 mi (5.5 km) from the car park.
By bus
Nearest bus stop on the map: Inveruglas, Opp Loch Sloy Power Station On A82, right by the car park. Check the times first: many Highland buses run only a few times a day.
Near the start
- Toilets by the start
- Café: The Den by the start
- Campsite: Inveruglas camping permit area March-September by the start
- Toilets 1.6 mi (2.6 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 Vane
- In Gaelic
- Beinn Mheadhain
Ben Vane is one of the Arrochar Alps, lying between Beinn Ime and Ben Vorlich and standing a little apart from the rest of the group. A low col at 1,614 ft (492 m) joins it on the west to Beinn Ime, its nearest higher neighbour 1.6 miles away, and it rises 1,391 ft (424 m) above that col. At 3,004 ft (916 m) it is one of the lowest Munros, ranked 280 of 282.
Its rock is almost all Beinn Bheula Schist, with a dyke prominent around the northern and eastern faces. Steep, rugged slopes fall east to the Inveruglas Water and south to the Allt Coiregrogain.
The summit is a small plateau. The true top is a rock outcrop about 7 m north-west of the small cairn, and a cairn at the head of a gully 35 m east is half a metre lower. The view takes in Ben Vorlich and Loch Sloy, the rest of the Arrochar Alps, and Loch Arklet and Loch Katrine to the east.
Through the year
Hours of daylight on Ben Vane 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 Ime | 3,321 ft (1,012 m) | 1.6 mi (2.6 km) |
| Ben Vorlich | 3,094 ft (943 m) | 2.0 mi (3.2 km) |
| Beinn Narnain | 3,041 ft (927 m) | 2.0 mi (3.2 km) |
Common questions about Ben Vane
- How high is Ben Vane?
- Ben Vane is 3,004 ft (916 m), number 280 of the 282 Munros by height, in the West Highlands.
- How long does it take to climb Ben Vane?
- About 2 h 40 min up and 1 h 10 min back down by our route from Car park near Inveruglas, before stops: 3.7 mi (5.9 km) each way with 2,959 ft (902 m) of climbing. That is about average for a Munro. Most people take longer than these estimates.
- Where do you park for Ben Vane?
- Our route starts at Car park near Inveruglas. There is a parking charge.
- Can you climb Ben Vane without a car?
- The nearest railway station is Arrochar and Tarbet, 3.4 mi (5.5 km) from the start, and the nearest bus stop on the map is Inveruglas, Opp Loch Sloy Power Station On A82, 0.1 mi (0.1 km) from the start. Highland trains and buses are few, so check times on Traveline Scotland before you go.
- Is Ben Vane a hard Munro?
- By time and climbing, it is about average for a Munro, with 2,959 ft (902 m) of ascent over 3.7 mi (5.9 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 Vane?
- 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 2026-10-24T19:54:56.481Z. 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 40 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 Vane is hill 76 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.