Ben Lawers

Ben Lawers stands in Perth and Kinross, north of Loch Tay, as the highest peak in the Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands. It belongs to a ridge of seven Munros, with Beinn Ghlas the nearest companion peak. The mountain rises from ground shaped by the Loch Tay Fault, where movement has created steep slopes and sharp ridges. Its summit shows the scars of ancient rockslides that have left deep hollows and piles of debris. The slopes drain both to the River Tay and the River Lyon, feeding a hydro-electric scheme that began in the 1950s. The mountain’s height and limestone-rich rocks support an unusually rich mix of arctic-alpine plants. Botanists recognise it as one of the best places in Britain for saxifrages, alpine forget-me-not and roseroot. Rare lichens number more than four hundred and thirty species, some found nowhere else in the British Isles. Golden eagles and peregrine falcons nest on the cliffs, while ptarmigan and dotterel breed on the high ground. Since 1964 the whole range has been a National Nature Reserve, protecting both wildlife and the evidence of early human use. A path from the modern car park leads up through a nature trail to the summit by way of Beinn Ghlas. The route crosses old peat beds and ruined shielings where people once grazed animals in summer. Bronze Age carvings appear on boulders near the lower slopes, and fragments of ridged pastures show early farming. The view from the top stretches thirty kilometres across the Highlands, taking in other landmark peaks such as Ben Vorlich and Beinn a’Ghlo.