New push for responsible hiking on Ben Nevis

Renewed efforts are being made to discourage hikers from taking shortcuts up Ben Nevis as significant vegetative erosion is undermining soil stability in the area, writes Jamie Wills.

Visitors leaving the path at the halfway lochan and Red Burn area, in an area known locally as the horseshoe, have left the ground damaged and exposed to rain fall, conditions that can contribute to landslides. Wetter conditions on the mountain caused by climate change are exacerbating the issue.

The area, which lies within a special area of conservation and site of special scientific interest, experienced a series of landslides in October 2022, including one several hundred metres in length. Five separate sections of the lower Ben Nevis path were closed at points last year due to rockfall.

The Red Burn area is particularly prone to hikers leaving the path as walkers cut west-toeast between paths, rather than follow the formal route, which includes a switchback and longer loop up the mountain.

In an effort to limit the damage, land managers in Ben Nevis and Glen Nevis are collaborating with NatureScot and Nevis Landscape Partnership to spread awareness of the need to stay on designated paths.

New signs have been erected asking for visitors to hike responsibly and allow vegetative regeneration. In a reference to the path’s heritage, the signs replicate those in place over two decades ago.

Jonathan Hart, liaison manager at landowner Jahama Highland Estates, said: “We are asking everybody to keep to the path line and not to take shortcuts across the thin vegetative cover. The mountain is very, very busy, with approaching 300,000 people ascending and descending the main mountain path each year, and the numbers are rising.

“All land managers are also having to react to the fact the changing weather in the region is bringing new forms of erosion.”