The Mamores traverse

START: Upper Falls car park, Glen Nevis

(NN168691) FINISH: Lower Falls car park, Achriabhach

(NN145683)

Distance: 34km / 21 miles

Ascent: 3400m / 11,000ft Duration: 12-15 hours walking

Maps: The BMC map of Ben Nevis and Glen Coe is excellent. Alternatively, OS Landranger 41 (Ben Nevis), or Explorer 392 (Ben Nevis & Fort William)

Public transport: Shiel Buses runs a service between Fort William and the Lower Falls car park between July and October: shielbuses.co.uk/node/114

Difficulty: mixed terrain, with some easy scrambling and exposed sections.

There are several options for tackling a full traverse of the Mamores, with pros and cons to each. We chose this circuit to make it easy linking the start and finish points without a long drive. Our plans changed a couple of times along the way, but our intended route had been as follows...

Start from the Upper Falls car park in Glen Nevis (NN168691) and take the path along the gorge towards Steall Falls. Follow the path past the falls up the glen, then cross the river to head south-east up the steep hillside on very faint paths towards the bealach between Binnein Beag and Binnein Mor.

From the bealach, climb Binnein Mor on the path from the small lochan, then return before continuing south across Coire a’ Bhinnein to climb Sgurr Eilde Mor. Recross the bealach past the large lochan to climb the steep northeastern side of Sgor Eilde Beag.

Follow the broad ridge west to meet a small top, then detour out and back to Binnein Mor before heading south-west to Na Gruagaichean. A sharp col links the two summits of this hill, taking you north-west over the second before the path sweeps west towards Stob Coire a’ Chairn. You can continue directly to the summit or skirt it to the north, where a couple of very small lochans provide a water stop (NN189662). Reascend to the bealach with An Garbhanach and continue over that summit to An Gearanach across some of the most entertaining terrain of the route.

Return south to Stob Coire a’ Chairn, then south-west along a more sedate ridge before a short, steep climb up Am Bodach.

Continue west to Sgurr an Iubhair, which has a broad summit. Completists will want to make the out-and-back trip to Stob Choire a’ Mhail, but you can drop west from the bealach on the return leg to reach Lochan Coire nam Miseach without much reascent (NN160654).

After filling your water bottles, it is a very short climb back to the ridge where Stob Ban waits to the west. Leave that summit to the north, then bear west from a small top a few hundred metres later. The ridge meanders loosely westward to Mullach nan Coirean, your final summit.

Descend north from Mullach nan Coirean, then follow the eastern shoulder towards Glen Nevis. You’ll pick up forestry tracks lower down, which you can follow to the Lower Falls car park at Achriabhach (NN145683). From here, it’s a 3km walk up the singletrack road to return to the starting point.