Beinn an Lochain

This is a 3.5-mile out-and-back from an A83 layby to the summit cairn of Beinn an Lochain, with the same route back. The short distance hides a hard climb: allow 3–5 hours for about 720 metres of ascent. You come for the long, rocky northeast ridge and the sudden southwest view along Loch Fyne. Beinn an Lochain was once listed as a Munro; later surveys put it below 3,000 feet, making it a Corbett.

Use the layby on the west side of the A83, north of Rest and Be Thankful, between Loch Restil and Butterbridge. The larger Butter Bridge parking area is the wrong start: its path runs into swamp. From the layby, a faint path crosses the stream above Easan Dubh Falls, then crosses boggy ground northwest to the ridge above the forestry. This opening stretch is less obvious than the climb and can be very wet. There is no public transport to the start. No toilets, water or food are documented at the layby or along the route.

Once on the ridge, the path is easier to follow but steep and eroded. It climbs like a rough rock staircase, with short flatter, boggy breaks. At the 637-metre top, the summit comes into view; look back toward Butterbridge and Beinn Ìme. After a short descent, the ridge steepens again. The path climbs a grassy slope, swings right of rocky buttresses and then regains the crest. It gives views over Inveraray and down Loch Fyne before easing briefly toward the final rocky summit pyramid. A path skirts the cliffs on the left to the cairn on a grassy knoll. A second, cairnless top lies farther along the ridge; the mapped route turns at the main cairn.

The normal return retraces the ascent, so the rocky steps are steep downhill too. A faint grassy-terrace variation crosses below the summit and is easy to miss; the simpler return is to stay on the ascent line. The upper ridge has mild scrambling and exposed ground, and the first boggy approach is easy to misread. Dogs can accompany you under Scotland’s responsible access rules; keep them under control. For a summit photo, set the cairn against the ridge and frame Loch Fyne to the southwest.