Ben Wyvis (and Little Wyvis) from Garbat

Route up Ben Wyvis from Garbat

North of Inverness, the A835 travels from Tore on the A9 to Ullapool. On this road, around 6km north of Garve and just south of the bridge over the Allt Bhealaich Mhoir, there is the Ben Wyvis car-park with its information board and has room for around 20 vehicles.

There is a height restricting barrier at the entrance to the car-park, therefore high vehicles will need to park just along the road in one of the lay-bys. Beware, in summer and autumn the midges here can be savage !

Erratic boulder at top of constructed path

The path from the car-park travels northwards parallel to the road for a short distance to a footbridge over the Allt a'Bhealaich Mhoir. Cross the bridge, then turn right, head through a gate and start to climb on a well constructed path uphill following the course of the Allt a'Bhealaich Mhoir. Progress is easy up this, crossing a forestry track on the way after which views open up with much of the surrounding forest having been felled.

After around 2km, the track starts to level, the Forestry Commission land is exited and Nature Scot managed land is entered.

The contructed path continues eastwards a bit further, then turns northwards, before twisting and turning uphill. After a series of steps, the constructed path ends by an erratic boulder and a boot-worn path continues climbing, travelling towards the summit of An Cabar , where two small cairns sit, the second on this top's summit.

(An Cabar can be bypassed - when approaching this minor summit and reaching the 900m contour, a small cairn marks the start of a faint path which can be traced heading north-east. This travels just below the crest of Ben Wyvis for around 1km and around the bump of Carn a' Chaiptein).

Leave An Cabar's cairns and head north-east on a well-worn path as it progresses along the wide crest of Ben Wyvis. A gradual climb up and over Carn a' Chaiptein (cairn at spot height 980m), not long after which a sporadic line of old iron fence-posts can be seen and followed all the way to Glas Leathad Mor , Ben Wyvis's summit.

Ben Wyvis summit with Carn Chuinneag beyond

Ben Wyvis summit with Carn Chuinneag beyond

Ben Wyvis from Little Wyvis

Having followed the above route to the edge of the Forestry Commision land , cross the Allt a'Bhealaich Mor, which can usually just be jumped, then head south up thick grass and heather (pathless).

Reach the head of a track at around c630m, and cross it. A faint trod can be traced up to the bealach between Tom na Caillich and Little Wyvis, from where ruts of ATVs and some fence-posts travel to the summit of Little Wyvis .

To continue to Ben Wyvis, firstly return to the bealach, then turn and head east over easy ground to Little Wyvis's north-east minor top, Tom na Caillich . From here, keep roughly east - the crags marked on the map are easily avoided - then descend to the damp ground at the foot of An Cabar.

Head directly up to An Cabar, then up to Ben Wyvis's trig point on Glas Leathad Mor as described above.

Glas Leathad Mor and Tom a' Coinnich from Glas Leathad Beag

The easiest return route is to simply about-turn and re-trace your steps back to An Cabar, then back down to Garbat.

Simply bagging Ben Wyvis's summit Glas Leathad Mor doesn't take much effort on a fine day, so an enjoyable option is extend the route by staying up high and bagging the mountain's northern tops.

To do this, from the trig point on Glas Leathad Mor, head north-north-east downhill on a path over the wide expanse of Ben Wyvis's crest to Bealach Tom a' Choinnich . On the other side of the col, climb 50m up to the 900 contour, then continue north-north-east, bypassing Tom a'Choinnich and onto its north-eastern shoulder. Follow this wide ridge north-east to a col , then east as the ground gets slightly bouldery as the rate of ascent increases.

Climb up to a rise at c910m , then head over pleasant terrain to Glas Leathad Beag at 928m. If you want an even better view over Loch Glas, head a bit further to Meall nan Bradan Leathan.

Heading to Tom a'Choinnich from the east

Heading to Tom a'Choinnich from the east