Ben Vane () is a mountain in the

Arrochar Alps The Arrochar Alps are a group of mountains located around the heads of Loch Long, Loch Fyne, and Loch Goil. They are part of the Grampian mountains range, which stretch across Scotland. The villages of Arrochar, Argyll and Bute, Arrochar and Lo ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

, in the Southern

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It reaches , making it a

Munro A Munro (; ) is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevi ...

. It lies between Beinn Ìme and Ben Vorlich.

Landscape

The underlying geology almost entirely comprises the Beinn Bheula

Schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

Formation -

psammite Psammite (Greek: ''psammitēs'' "(made) from sand", from ''psammos'' "sand") is a general term for sandstone. It is equivalent to the Latin-derived term areniteU.S. Bureau of Mines Staff (1996) ''Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, & Related Terms.'' ...

and

pelite A pelite () or metapelite is a metamorphism, metamorphosed fine-grained sedimentary rock, i.e. mudstone or siltstone. The term was earlier used by geologists to describe a clay-rich, fine-grained clastic sediment or sedimentary rock, i.e. mud or ...

with a Siluro-Devonian dyke prominent round the northern and eastern face.
Geology of Britain Viewer It is one of the

and stands slightly separate from the other mountains of the group being connected on its western side to the neighbouring Beinn Ìme by a low col at 492 metres. Ben Vane is characterised by steep and rugged slopes which fall away to the Inveruglas Water to the east and the Allt Coiregroigan to the south; to the north the descent is more undulating going over the subsidiary top of Beinn Dubh before falling to the valley at the north end of Loch Sloy. Dense forestry cloak the mountain on its lower southern slope in Allt Coiregroigan. Also on these southern slopes by the Allt Coiregroigan is a disused quarry which provided crushed stone used for the construction of the Loch Sloy dam in the late 1940s. The dam wall lies two km to the north of the quarry and a conveyor belt was constructed to carry the crushed stone over the lower slopes of Ben Vane to the batching plant beside the dam.''"The Dam Builders, Power from the Glens"'', James Miller, Page 37 Gives details of disused quarry to supply stone to Loch Sloy.

Climbing

The direct route up the mountain starts from the paid car park at grid reference opposite the Loch Sloy power station on the banks of

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

and follows the private tarmac road by the Inveruglas Water up to the Loch Sloy

hydro Hydro (from ) may refer to: Energy technologies * Water-derived power or energy: ** Hydropower, derived from water ** Hydroelectricity, in electrical form * "Hydro", AC mains electricity in parts of Canada * Micro hydro, a type of hydroelect ...

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

for two kilometres before striking steeply up the mountain's eastern ridge. Initially there is some boggy ground and some crags to avoid higher up but the top is easily reached after a few false summits on the way. Ben Vane can also be climbed in conjunction with some of the other Arrochar Alps, especially Beinn Ìme and

Beinn Narnain Beinn Narnain (sometimes anglicised as ''Ben Narnain'') is a mountain in the southern Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland, near Arrochar, Scotland, Arrochar. It forms part of a group of hills known (unofficially) as the Arrochar Alps, and ...

.''"The Munros, SMC Hillwalkers Guide"'' Donald Bennett et al., Gives details of ascents. The summit of the mountain is a small plateau crowned by a cairn. The highlights of the view from the top of Ben Vane are Ben Vorlich and Loch Sloy to the northeast and the rest of the Arrochar Alps to the southwest. A' Chrois looks especially fine across the deep glen of Allt Coiregrogain. The vista to Lochs Arklet and Katrine to the east is very good.

References

{{Scottish Munros section 1 Munros Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Southern Highlands Mountains and hills of Argyll and Bute