Ben More and Stob Binnein

This 6.5-mile loop starts at the A85 access beside Ben More Farm, climbs Ben More, crosses the bealach to Stob Binnein, then returns through Benmore Glen. Allow 6–8 hours and about 1,300 metres of ascent: this is a steep, sustained mountain day, not a quick add-on to one summit. The mapped variant retraces the short ridge between Stob Binnein and the bealach, then descends below Ben More to the glen and shares the lower access track back to the road. It does not continue down Stob Binnein’s south ridge toward Inverlochlarig.

A low wooden sign beside the A85 leads across a ditch to the farm track. Follow its zigzags under the power lines to a gate at about 300 metres; beyond it, the climb becomes very steep and much of the path is built in steps. The route keeps left of the ill-defined Sloc Curraidh corrie, then follows a dry-stone dyke from roughly 800 metres. Views behind open as you gain height. Near the rocky shoulder of Cuidhe Chrom the gradient eases briefly; the path swings left toward a view of Loch Tay before the final slopes to Ben More’s 1,174-metre top. There is a large cairn, then a trig point on a separate rocky outcrop. Ben More has no higher mountain in Britain farther south.

From Ben More, a clear but steep rocky path drops along the south ridge to the bealach at about 862 metres, marked by an enormous boulder. One short rocky step involves a scrambling move, but a left-hand bypass avoids it. A zigzag path climbs from the saddle to Stob Binnein’s small, flat 1,165-metre summit. Turn south for a view across the Trossachs, with the mountain’s own south ridge in the foreground; from Ben More, Stob Binnein and the intervening ridge make the defining view of the day. After the second summit, retrace the north ridge to the bealach, then take the path descending below Ben More into Benmore Glen. It crosses open slopes before dropping more directly beside a burn. The lower ground is often described as boggy, slippery and eroded; follow the glen track back to the gate and the approach track.

Expect steep ground for most of the climb, rough rocky footing on Ben More’s descent, and a softer, less reliable tread on the glen return. If the path is lost in poor visibility, the high ground is serious; snow on the Sloc Curraidh headwall can create avalanche danger in winter and spring. During the recurring stalking periods of 1 September–20 October and 30 October–15 February, the published access advice explicitly guarantees the usual Benmore Farm route when walkers return the same way, not this Glen-return loop. Check the estate’s current access advice before choosing the loop in those periods. Dogs are allowed under Scotland’s access rules; keep them close around livestock and ground-nesting birds, especially from April through July. Roadside parking is available just off the A85 by the farm; a larger layby is about half a mile east at Loch Iubhair, with a walk back along the road to the signed start.