Start/Finish: Braveheart car park, GR NN121736 Total distance: 13.2km (8.2 miles) Height gain: 260m (850 feet) Time: 1-1.5 hours Maps required: OS Landranger OL41, Ben Nevis, Fort William and Glen Coe Route summary: A sheltered and easy climb up Glen Nevis on fire roads, followed by a short singletrack downhill, scenic road pedal and fast singletrack back along the River Nevis to the Braveheart car park. Starting in the well-signposted Braveheart car park on the Glen Nevis road, leave the car park and instead of turning left to descend to the road, turn right up the fire road and through the gate. Keep left when the track forks at GR NN121722 — the West Highland Way forks right at this point. Carry on climbing steadily up the undulating track for another 4.3km at which point you take the right-hand fork, climbing more steeply for a short time. Where the track takes a sharp switchback right turn, look on the left for an easy-to-miss trail in the undergrowth heading steeply down the hillside. It’s quite technical for a short stretch here, so go easy if you aren’t confident — take a look first. Follow this trail down to the road, where you turn left onto the tarmac. Just before the excellent Café Beag on your left (an ideal opportunity for a quick top up) turn right over the footbridge. At the other side, turn sharply left onto the singletrack running along the riverside. Follow this for nearly 2km, until you reach another footbridge crossing back over the river. Arrive at the Nevis car park, then turn right on the road and keep an eye out on your left for the singletrack path paralleling the road back to the Braveheart car park.by Matt_Skinner
© Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2BW. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.