Ben Venue

Ben Venue rises above Loch Katrine in the Trossachs, a compact mountain whose Gaelic name means ‘the miniature mountain’. Its slopes guard Bealach nam Bò, the old cattle pass used by Highland raiders to move stolen herds. The mountain stands two kilometres south-west of the southern pier on Loch Katrine, its steep southern flanks littered with cliffs that make direct descent dangerous. Walkers reach the summit by two five-kilometre routes: one starts at Ledard farm track near Loch Ard, the other from the car park at Loch Achray. A triangulation pillar marks the eastern summit at 728.1 metres, though the western top is slightly higher at 729.5 metres. On clear days the view stretches to the Firth of Forth, the Clyde, the Isle of Arran and the Paps of Jura. From either summit the eye follows Loch Katrine’s dark water to Ben A’an, Ben More and Stob Binnein. Ben Lomond and the jagged peaks of the Arrochar Alps form the northern horizon. The forest paths below lead back to the lochside, where the pass of the cattle still tells its lawless story.