Climbing Ben Ledi from Appletree luxury self-catering Cottage for eightBen Ledi from base to summit
When you drive from Drymen to Stirling along the A811 and look to the north there is one mountain which appears to be higher than all the others visible. Often snow-capped it can be observed for a large part of the journey. It can also be seen from Stirling, the Forth Road Bridge and Edinburgh Castle. There are higher mountains to the west but this one is prominent due to its position approximately half way across the country on the Highland Boundary Faultline. The hill in question is Ben Ledi.
The foot of the path up Ben Ledi. The western end of the bridge over the River Leny is out of shot on the right. The road ahead, which eventually leads to a tea room, follows the course of the former Callandar and Oban railway
The hill is best accessed from the car park at the south end of Loch Lubnaig. The car park is on the west side of the A84 about 1.7 miles (2.75km) north of the small village of Kilmahog and accessed via a single track bridge over the Garbh Uisge otherwise known as the River Leny. You may notice the deep cutting in the rock on the way to the car park. This is part of the former Callander and Oban railway which used to furn up the western side of Loch Lubnaig and was closed between Callander and Crianlarich on 28th September 1965.
Once parked we walked back to the western side of the bridge we had just driven over. From there a path begins to climb up the hill. Steep in parts it threads its way through forest old and new. 
The path climbs steeply through scrub woodland for the first mile.
The eastern flank of Ben Ledi is owned by the Forestry Commission forms part of the south east extremity of the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park which itself forms part of the spectacular Loch Lomond and Trossachs Park.
After a while the path crosses a forestry track and continues up through denser woodland.
Rising to 2884 feet (879m) Ledi is classed as a Corbet. In Scotland mountains over 3000ft are referred to as Munros and hills between 2500ft and 300ft are known as Corbetts. The name Corbett by the way is not a reference to the late diminutive Scottish entertainer and comedian Ronnie Corbett but derives from the original compiler of the list of hills between 2,500ft and 3000ft (762-914m) John Rooke Corbett. Another feature of Corbetts is that they must also have a drop of 500ft on all sides (prominence). Ben Ledi most certainly has this feature.
Further up the hill the woodland gives way to heather and grass. Great views begin to be seen.
About half way up to the summit the trees give way to grass and heather. The path is well made but there are a few boggy bits later on.
Further up the hill, above the tree line, looking north up Loch Lubnaig.
In 1791 the parish minister James Robertson when compiling details for entry in The First Statistical Account of Scotland apparently mistook the meaning “Hill of God” for the mountain due to the similarity of the French Le Dia. It is also said that Ben Ledi gets its name from a corruption of the Gaelic Beinn Leitir meaning Hill of the Slope. Quite apt!
The path has been well attended and many parts have stone steps formed into the hill. Particularly at the steepest parts.
The climb is almost continuously steep with a few gently inclined sections. 
Close to the summit and the views are fantastic! Looking east towards Stirling (the castle can just be discerned) and the Forth. The water on the right is Loch Venachar
After a couple of false summits we finally reached the top, a distance of about 3km from where we started.
Nearly there! Close to the summit looking west
At the summit is a cairn, originally built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887, and a trig point installed by the Ordnance Survey.
There are also some spectacular views. To the east we could see Stirling Castle, the National Wallace Monument and the river Forth right down to the flames burning at Grangemouth. To the west we could see Ben Lomond, the Arrochar Alps and the hills in between. 
Looking south. Loch Venachar is foreground left, Loch Achray to the right and Loch Drunkie peeking through the gap.
After a morning roll and marmalade (a great hillwalking snack) we started to make our descent.
Just down from the summit is a large cross set into the rock and a plaque commemorating Sgt. Harry Lawrie BEM of the Killin Mountain Rescue Team. Sgt. Lawrie lost his life when the blades of the Wessex helicopter in which he was travelling encountered some rocks on Ben More during a mountain rescue operation in 1987. The cross was erected on 1 February 1987 on Ben Ledi where Harry’s and his wife’s ashes lie. 
Commemorative Cross to Sgt. Harry Lawrie of the Killin Mountain Rescue
The commemorative cross serves as a reminder to walkers to have the correct equipment and experience when climbing hills and mountains in Scotland.
Our descent down to the carpark was naturally much faster than the ascent – although we had to slow down considerably on some icy rocks and sections of slippy path. We did our walk when there was snow on the ground and although we did it in about 4 hours with a pause at the top it is best to allow six hours in case detours and hazards are encountered. We advise to aim to get down before dark. There are more details about the walk up Ben Ledi and other hills at the excellent site Walk Highlands: https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/lochlomond/ben-ledi.shtml Comments are closed.
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