Car Parking available at Inveruglas (G83 7DP). There are also frequent bus services stopping on A82.
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View Full Route Description
Starting at Inveruglas car park, turn left (SW) to walk along the path next to the A82. After 700m take the way-marked track on your right (W) heading uphill and away from the village. Follow this road for 2.3km (to 155m elevation) at which point turn left (SW) to cross the Inveruglas Water. Take care not to turn left too early – you want to take the second left, with the first being the route for the Three Lochs Way. After 500m (at 200m elevation) come off this road onto a hillside trail on your right. It starts off heading W then SW, uphill on steep ground. The path then takes a general NW direction, continuing up very steep hillside, with some scrambling required in places. The summit is reached at 916m elevation, after lots of false tops. Ben Vane summit is wide and flat – take care in bad visibility not to lose your sense of direction for the descent. Descend E then SE via the same route back to Inveruglas car park.
WALK REPORT: 29TH APRIL 2021
A Munro! After a year of lockdown restricting our ability to travel, it felt brilliant to be able to jump in the car after the school run, meet my sister & brother-in-law, walk Ben Vane and be back in Ayrshire in time to take my 7yr old to his guitar lesson. It was my first Munro in a loooooonnnng time and afterwards my body certainly knew it! Waking up those muscles for the first time in ages.
The weather offered a reminder of how quickly conditions can change when in the hills. It started off dry and sunny and remained that way for the majority of the day, however from time to time the wind would pick up all of a sudden and blow in a heavy snow shower. It made for some dramatic photo opps.
I think we will nickname this one “the never-ending hill” due to its MANY false summits. I had read about them prior to heading on the walk but the sheer number of them still caught me out a few times! It may be the smallest of the Munros but it definitely packs a punch! We were lucky to find the wide plateau of a summit perfectly calm and there wasn’t another soul around: the ideal lunch spot whilst being treated to amazing views over to a snow-capped Ben Lomond, Ben Narnain, the Cobbler, Beinn Ime, Ben Vorlich plus countless other tops I couldn’t name. Also down to Loch Lomond, Loch Katrine, Loch Sloy and Loch Arklet.
All in all a fairly challenging Munro (for me, after so long away from it): it’s steep and scramble-y!
