Explore The Highland region
A ten-minute drive south of Fort William, GLEN NEVIS is among the Highlands’ most impressive glens: a U-shaped glacial valley hemmed in by steep bracken-covered slopes and swaths of blue-grey scree. Herds of shaggy Highland cattle graze the valley floor, where a sparkling river gushes through glades of trees.
A great low-level walk (six miles round-trip) runs from the end of the road at the top of Glen Nevis. The rocky path leads through a dramatic gorge with impressive falls and rapids, then opens out into a secret hanging valley, carpeted with wild flowers, with a high waterfall at the far end. Of all the walks in and around Glen Nevis, however, the ascent of Ben Nevis (4406ft), Britain’s highest summit, inevitably attracts the most attention. Despite the fact that it’s quite a slog up to the summit, and it’s by no means the most attractive mountain in Scotland, in high summer the trail is teeming with hikers, whatever the weather. It can snow round the summit any day of the year, so take the necessary precautions; in winter, of course, the mountain should be left to the experts. The most obvious route to the summit, a Victorian pony path up the whaleback south side of the mountain, built to service the observatory that once stood on the top, starts from the helpful Glen Nevis visitor centre: allow a full day for the climb (8hr).
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The Nevis Range
The Nevis Range
Seven miles northeast of Fort William by the A82, on the slopes of Aonach Mhor, one of the high mountains abutting Ben Nevis, the Nevis Range is Scotland’s highest winter ski area. Highland Country bus #42 runs from Fort William to the base station of the country’s only gondola system. The 1.5-mile gondola trip (15min), rising 2000ft, gives an easy approach to some high-level walking as well as spectacular views from the terrace of the self-service restaurant at the top station. From the top of the gondola station, you can experience Britain’s only World-Cup-standard downhill mountain-bike course, a hair-raising 3km route that’s not for the faint-hearted. There are also 25 miles of waymarked off-road bike routes, known as the Witch’s Trails, on the mountainside and in the Leanachan Forest, ranging from gentle paths to cross-country scrambles. Alpine Bikes rents mountain bikes as well as full-suspension bikes for the downhill course from their shops in Fort William and at the gondola base station. The base station area also has a café and there’s a play area and nature trail nearby.
