The highest peak above Loch Tay, a big grassy Munro famous for the rare mountain flowers on its slopes
Open accessin a National Nature Reserve open to the public
Ben Lawers is the high point of the long range running along the north side of Loch Tay, and at 1,214m it’s a Munro — a Scottish hill over 3,000 feet — and the highest ground in Perth and Kinross. The rock here is a soft, lime-rich schist that breaks down into an unusual mountain soil, so the slopes grow arctic-alpine flowers you won’t find on most Scottish hills; the National Trust for Scotland looks after much of the mountain as a nature reserve for exactly that reason. Most walkers start from the road over to Glen Lyon and take in Beinn Ghlas on the way up, and stronger parties carry on north along the ridge over An Stuc to make a longer round. It’s a broad, grassy mountain rather than a rocky one, but the tops are high and exposed, and the summit views over Loch Tay and across the wider Loch Rannoch and Glen Lyon country stretch for miles on a clear day. Take the usual hill kit and watch the forecast; snow lingers up here well into spring.
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