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Leanachan Forest

Torlundy

A82

Meall Breac

Meall Beag

River Lundy

Allt na Caillich

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Gondola

Nevis Range top station

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link

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lund

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m

MacKenzies Road

The High Road

Puggy Line

Hole in the Wall

Stolen Bridge

0

0

0.25 miles

0.25 0.5km

Hire

Sgurr Finnisg-aig

CIC Hut & Allta’ Mhuilinn

North FaceCar Park

269m

Ben Nevis View Point1.6 km / 1 mile, allow 30 min return

This low-level trail offers fantastic views of the towering buttresses of theNorth face of Ben Nevis, well worth a short 30min walk. The trail starts atthe ‘Tree Adventure’, and takes the short rolling track through the forest,above you the ‘Tree Adventure’ courses wind through the trees. Bear left asyou pop out onto the main forest track and after 50m take a right ontosingle track. This weaves its way through the forest, coming out at the oldroad. Cross this and follow the main access road until you reach a largelayby and view point with picnic table. Return by the same route.

Thomson’s Trail3.2 km / 2 miles, allow 1 ¼ hours returnAscent: 50mThe trail starts at the ‘Tree Adventure’, and takes the short rolling trackthrough the forest, above you the ‘Tree Adventure’ courses wind throughthe trees. Bear left as you pop out onto the main forest track and after50m take a right onto single track, after 70m look out for a track to theright which will take you to the main road which you cross to rejoin thetrack on the opposite side. Take the left track which climbs gradually andopens to a wide forest track. Follow this till you come to a single track,winding uphill on your right. This takes you around the back of the auctionmart, it descends steeply to the auction mart car park. Cross the car parkand look out for a gated grassy track just before the road junction. Thisleads to Frazers Field, go right here till you meet your outward route.Alternatively, as you cross the car park follow the main road till you cometo the “Ben Nevis View Point” trail, follow this back through the forest andhead for the Pinemarten for a well earned cuppa!

River Lundy Walk3.7 km / 2 ¼ miles, allow 1 ¼ hoursAscent: 45mFrom the ‘Tree Adventure’, cross the wooden bridge over the RiverLundy and follow the trail marked with red way-markers. After 1.26kmtake a left onto the footpath to cross the river again. Follow the paththrough the ‘hole in the wall’ the open field on your right was the siteof a WW11 decoy factory, to attract German warplanes away from thereal aluminium smelter in Fort William. Stay left at the next fork whichwill bring you onto the forest road, turn left to return to the car park.Keep a look out for wildlife along the way – this is an ideal place tospot rare butterflies like the chequered skipper, so rare it’s only found ina 30 mile radius of Fort William.

North Face Circular6.5 km / 4 miles, allow 1 ¾ hours

From the ‘Tree Adventure’, follow the river lundy walk until you cometo a right fork, 1.3km, bear right, then left as you come on to the oldroad. Walk down the road, no longer open to traffic, till you reach thetraffic lights, take the forest track on the left and head for the NorthFace car park, stay on the main forest track over the bridge and all theway back to Nevis Range. For a longer option add on the ‘North Faceand Loch views’.

North Face and Lochs view4.5 km / 2 ¾ miles, allow 1 ¾ hours (to the second viewpoint and back)Ascent: 219mThis trail offers fantastic views of the towering buttresses of the Northface of Ben Nevis, one of Europe’s top climbing destinations. Afterpassing the North Face car park and crossing the bridge, take the trackright marked ‘Allt a’ Mhuilinn’. As the path winds steeply up the hill youare rewarded with panoramic views over Loch Eil, Loch Linnhe and thesurrounding hills. The path continues on to provide access to the northface of Ben Nevis for experienced hillwalkers and climbers.

Walks from the Gondola Top Station

Both are relatively easy walks enabling all our visitors, young and oldalike, to enjoy and appreciate the experience and the truemagnificence and ruggedness of the Scottish Highlands.

Sgurr Finnisg-aig1.5 km / 0.9 mile, allow 40 min returnAscent: 53mThe walk to Sgurr Finnisg-aig is the shorter of the two trails, takingapproximately 40 minutes return. This is an excellent viewpoint,which looks out across the Great Glen and Hills of Knoydart, you canalso look back to the impressive overshadowing mass of Carn MorDearg and Ben Nevis.

Meall Beag2.24 km / 1.4 miles, allow 1 hour returnAscent: 20mMeall Beag is a slightly longer trail, taking approximately 1 hourreturn. This trail leads visitors in the opposite direction from wherethe views across Loch Linnhe, Loch Eil, the hills of Ardgour, Moidartand into Alt Daim are simply stunning.

Skills Loop/Car Park 1 km / 0.6 miles, allow 15 min

Short option0.6 km / 0.4 miles, allow 10 minA short walk from the gondola base station. It can be walked clockwiseor anti-clockwise and is all on good forest road. Suitable for all abilitiesincluding families with young children. Anti-clockwise - from the Pinemarten cafe, follow the track around theskills area and under the gondola. Continue on good track for 300muntil you reach the forest road junction, turn left here, on your left arethe skills loops, where mountain bikers from beginners to experts canpractice their technique. After 50m turn left again to enter the skillsloops car park. Follow the outer perimiter of the car park, cross thebridge to arrive back at the gondola base station. Short option: Turn left after you go under the gondola line. This takesyou into the skills area and car park, join the main track and cross thebridge to finish at the gondola base station.

Map Key

RoadForest road/Track

Parking

Viewpoint

Picnic table/SeatToilets

Cafe/RestaurantArchaeological site

Easy Moderate

Trail grading

Bike hireGondola

Hire

Strenuous

View from Meall Beag

View across Loch Linnhe and Loch Eil

The North Face of Ben Nevis

Chequered skipper

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Nevis Range M

ountain Experience is a visitor attraction with the U

K’s

only mountain gondola, high ropes courses, forest and m

ountain walks,

mountain biking including Bike School and Bike H

ire, and Snowsports

in the winter including Snow

sports School and Equipment H

ire,restaurant, bar and café, and gift shop.

TREESSitka spruce. The tree grow

n most in the Lochaber area, as it thrives in poor

wet ground conditions and is fast grow

ing, producing straight timber, that

the local saw m

ill is best geared up to deal with.

Larch. Often grow

n on the dryer areas of ground. Unusually for a conifer,

the needles on larch turn orange in autumn and fall off.

NATIV

E TREES:Scots pine.Largest and longest-lived tree in the forest.

Wild cherry.G

reen leaves, oval and toothed with pointed tips. They fade to

orange and deep crimson in autum

n.

Alder.A

very comm

on tree in Leanachan, especially nearer to water. It has large rounded w

axy leaves.

Birch.Pioneer species, pushing out of the forest and colonising open ground. Quite short lived.

Rowan. A

lso known as m

ountain ash, it is easy to recognise, being quite small, w

ith serrated oval leavesand red berries. A

tough wee tree, often found on its ow

n in remote and w

indswept hillsides. M

any myths

surround the rowan tree – they can often be found next to ruined crofts, as folk believed they w

ould keepevil spirits aw

ay, and that they will bring bad luck if cut dow

n. If their berries come early in the season, it is

often seen as a sign of a cold snowy w

inter.

FLOW

ERS andFRU

ITSLots of purples and yellow

s brightening up the forest. Fox gloves, dandelion,buttercups, broom

, purple heather, primroses, torm

entil, Devil's-bit Scabious

and eyebright, can all be found. Higher up you can find spotted orchid,

birdsfoot trefoil, milkw

ort and butterwort, a m

idge eating plant!

Bog Myrtle. The sm

ell of a highland summ

er! Distinctive resin sm

ell,particularly w

hen the leaves are crushed. Grow

s in wet boggy areas of open hill.

Fruits of the forest. Wild straw

berries, raspberries and brambles grow

lower dow

n in the forest, with

hardy blaeberries growing higher up the hills. A

great snack when you are out exploring or having fun, but

be careful not to eat anything dodgy! Watch out for the m

ore unusual crowberry and bearberry.

Visit the N

evis Range Discovery Centre for m

ore information about the plants and w

ildlife aroundA

onach Mor.

WILD

LIFEButterflies. A

round open areas in the forest you are likely to see all sorts of butterflies fluttering throughthe long grass and w

ildflowers. G

reen veined whites, orange tips and peacocks are all quite com

mon and

easy to identify. Rare species like the mountain ringlet and chequered skipper are only found in a 30 m

ileradius of Fort W

illiam.

Buzzards. Our m

ost comm

on bird of prey, you can often see them circling overhead or sitting on posts

looking out for its lunch.

Woodpecker. A

bout blackbird-sized and striking black-and-white. It spends m

ost of its time clinging to tree

trunks and branches. Its presence is often announced by its loud call or by its distinctive spring 'drumm

ing'display.

Barn owl. If you are lucky you m

ight spot a barn owl sw

ooping through the trees. How

ever, you are more

likely to hear them if you are out in the forest at night.

Ptarmigan. You w

ill have to get up high onto the hills to see Ptarmigan, you

often see them near rocky hill tops. They change from

white in the w

inter togrey brow

n in the summ

er.

Red Squirrel. An elusive forest creature w

ith a tufty tail, the red squirrelsstruggle to com

pete with the larger grey squirrel in m

ost of the UK, but are

present in Leanachan forest.

Mountain H

are. Found at the gondola top station. Quite possibly faster than

many m

ountain bikers down the N

evis Range Red Giant route!

Deer. Roe deer usually low

er down and red deer higher on the hills. Red D

eer are the stereotypicalhighland stags w

ith large antlers, roaming the hills, w

hile roe deer are smaller, and can often be spotted on

forest paths, darting into the trees when they spot people.

Pine Martens. Q

uite a large forest creature, about the size of a cat. Norm

ally only seen eating off birdtables, or scavenging leftovers, they are said to love jam

sandwiches!

Midges. H

opefully you won’t see, or feel, too m

any of these! It’s always handy to carry som

e midge

repellant.

Ticks. In Lochaber we are lucky to have m

asses of forests, hillsides and wild anim

als, all great habitats forticks! Ticks are like tiny spiders, that bite anim

als to feed on their blood. Keep an eye out for ticks afterbeing outdoors, as they can occasionally carry lym

es disease.

ARC

HA

EOLO

GY

.

Hidden aw

ay in the forest are ruined crofts – houses, sheep fanks, field walls

and kilns abandoned before the forests were planted. The green graded ‘C

atsEyes’ m

ountain bike trail passes by a couple. The river Lundy walk runs through

a meadow

, where you look out onto fields w

ith a strange circular pattern. Thisis the rem

ains of the decoy factory, set up during World W

ar two to attract

Germ

an warplanes aw

ay from the real alum

inium sm

elter in Fort William

!

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