Ben Klibreck August 2015

PLEASE NOTE: The GPX trace on this route is for use as a guide only, its accuracy may change depending on the scale of map you are using. Use in combination with judgement and a paper map. We have taken all reasonable steps to ensure these walks are safe and correctly described. However things do change and all outdoor activities involve a degree of risk. The publishers accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions or for any injuries or accidents that occur whilst following this walk. Trail magazine, Copyright Bauer Media Limited.


Distance 11km (6¾ miles)

Total ascent 791m

Time 4½ hours

Start/Finish NC537289

Terrain well-used route to summit and back

NC537289 Ben Klibreck stands alone, a solitary Munro without any great features to mark it out as particularly special other than its northerly position. It may not be a mountain you’ll want on a calendar; it might even be a Munro you’ll think of as a must-do tick on a list rather than a must-do day on the hill. But once you pull on your pack and cross the moorland to set foot on its slopes, its character and charm are easy to see – making it an absolute must-do when heading north. Start by the roadside, cross the bridge and follow the track past the small waterfalls then across the moor under the looming shape ahead.

NC552288 The nearby lochs are worth a visit if you feel like wandering off the straightest route, and possibly worth noting for a visit on the way back with hot feet and an empty water bottle!

NC566288 Loch nan Uan is bigger, and you finally feel like you’re in mountain country here as Ben Klibreck takes on a steeper profile. It has bands of crags in its upper slopes that impress, and the mountain feels high. Soon after the loch is passed the climbing begins on grass, which steepens as you gain height, finally dropping you onto a wide, grassy ridge at a bealach between Creag an Lochain and the ridge ahead.

NC576291 The ridge is rounded and the terrain easy-going, with a well-worn path to take you onwards; but there is an airiness about the location with no other big mountains nearby that gives the walk a certain grandness. Ahead the ridge changes character as it becomes a little better defined and rockier in places as it climbs round to the right and up to the final top.

NC585299 Meall nan Con is the highest point on Ben Klibreck, and it has a surprise in store with a standing trig point and the remains of a broken one lying to the side along with a well-weathered low-walled stone shelter around it. The views are extensive: miles of rolling moorland with distant peaks on the horizon to try to identify over lunch by the trig point. It’s a well- trodden route to the top but it’s still a lonely spot and you might well get the summit to yourself. The return route is a reverse of the outward route, although the southern top of Creag an Lochain can be added before you descend back to Loch nan Uan from the bealach. There’s a path to the top on easy, grassy terrain and this would add 2km and 100m of ascent to your day. For me though, a wee sit down by the lochside with a cuppa before getting back to the road would probably win the day: it would be a perfect end for a walk on such a laid-back mountain.