Beinn Bhan and Meall a' Phubuill from Glen Loy

By the bridge over the River Loy

In the Great Glen, a section of the A82 travels from Fort William to Spean Bridge. To the west, the B8004 runs parallel to the A82 on the opposite side of the Caledonian Canal from Corpach to Gairlochy and around halfway along this section of road, a sign marked 'Glen Loy' by a bridge over the River Loy indicates the start of an unclassified road heading west.

Follow the narrow road for just over 2km to a wooden bridge over the River Loy. This is the starting point for Beinn Bhan where parking can be found in a rough verge-side area by forest immediately south of the bridge, alternatively there are more spaces just along the road.

To reach the starting point for Meall a' Phubuill, continue along the narrow road for a further 4km until the end of the public road is reached. Parking is limited to the side edge of a track heading uphill into forestry, taking care not to block access.

Waterfall above Inverskilavulin

From the forest, head over the bridge over the River Loy, turn right by a line of bins and hike up a track towards the house and chalets at Inverskilavulin. Just before reaching the house, an imposing gate is met with a sign denoting private property . Turn left and follow a line of ATV tracks over grass and soggy ground around the fenced-off property.

By a 'Scotways' sign, the fence makes a sharp turn right with a path following it down to a small wooden bridge over the Allt Coire Mhuilinn, the burn tumbling down from Beinn Bhan. Across the burn and now tracing a rough path, hike uphill through woodland between the Allt Coire Mhuilinn and a fence-line. There's a lovely waterfall to admire on the way.

The fence and path turn north-east with the path coming to an abrupt end by a gate into a field . Through the gate and now on open hillside, continue uphill through heather and over grass onto the wide crest of Beinn Bhan's south-east shoulder.

View to Ben Nevis on way up Beinn Bhan

View to Ben Nevis on way up Beinn Bhan

Beinn Bhan's summit cairn and trig point

Although the trig point sits on the highest point, Beinn Bhan has two more summits and all three are form a line on a wide crest which encircles Coire Mhuilinn below.

From the cairn and trig point in Beinn Bhan's highest summit, look westwards and you'll see a line of sturdy old iron fence-posts. Follow this line of posts along Beinn Bhan's wide grass-covered crest as it gently drops around 50m of height to reach a shallow col where the posts stop. A faint path can be picked up and followed up the slight rise ahead to the small cairn on Beinn Bhan's centre summit .

Turning more south-west, Beinn Bhan's crest is followed to the small cairn on its western summit , from where Meall a' Phubuill can be seen dwarfed by mighty Gulvain behind.

Beinn Bhan from the western summit above Coire Mhuilinn

Beinn Bhan from the western summit above Coire Mhuilinn

Druim Gleann Laoigh above Achnanellan House

At the end of the public road in Glen Loy, a sign indicates the right-of-way westwards towards Fassfern. Following this sign, head through a gate, pass a house and hike along a private road through some gardens. The road passes Achnanellan Lodge to reach a gate, beyond which a rough track takes over heading westwards following the northern bank of the River Loy upstream.

The track passes some forestry, then continues for 2km to its end below a sparsely populated woodland.

Now on a rough path, continue for a further 200m to cross a burn , then leave the path and strike north-west directly uphill. A few large patches of ferns are ploughed through above which the hillside is moderately steep and grass-covered.

After climbing a height of around 350m, the gradient begins to ease and an old wall is met. The wall is embeded with iron posts and runs along the crest of Druim Gleann Laoigh.

Following the wall westwards up a gentle slope, there are faint trods to follow, though not anything resembling a path. After just over 1km, the wall turns north-west and reaches Meall a' Phubill's eastern top .

The end of the wall before the final push up Meall a' Phubuill

The end of the wall before the final push up Meall a' Phubuill

Druim Fhada from the southern slopes of Meall a' Phubuill

Leave Meall a' Phubill's summit with its small cairn aim south-east, descending a gentle grass-covered slope. After loosing around 100m of height, the grass-covered hillside steepens, though there are no difficulties encountered.

A wall aside the Allt Coire nan Laogh is met and followed downhill to meet with the path through Glen Loy, which is then followed back to Achnanellan.