Ben Lomond from Rowardennan

Ben Lomond, at 974m the most southerly Munro, is one of the most popular Munros, and Walkhighlands puts the number who reach the top at 30,000, drawn by views along the length of Loch Lomond and its islands. The National Trust for Scotland bought 2,173 hectares of the mountain in 1984, including the summits of Ptarmigan, Sron Aonaich and Beinn Uird as well as Ben Lomond itself, from the old Blairvockie Farm, a purchase prompted by public concern over safeguarding access to the hill.

Callander sits on the wrong side of the Trossachs for a direct approach: reaching Rowardennan means a drive south through Aberfoyle to Drymen and then, as the tourism board for the area describes it, eleven miles up a narrow, winding dead-end road along the loch shore, not a short hop from the town. From the car park, a charge applies, a well-made path climbs through woodland and then open hillside on the mountain’s south ridge, gaining height steadily before two final zigzags up the summit cone to a trig point above a steep eastern corrie.

The standard descent retraces the ascent path, but Walkhighlands describes an alternative return down the rockier, steeper Ptarmigan ridge to the north-west, muddy lower down, which turns the day into a horseshoe. The round measures around 12km with 990m of ascent, four and a half to five and a half hours, by Walkhighlands’ count. It is a full Munro within reach of Glasgow and Stirling, which is its case; it does not suit a walk from the door of Callander, being a long drive away, and the Ptarmigan descent is a poor choice for anyone without sure footing on loose rock. A shorter Trossachs hill with Ben Lomond in view rather than underfoot is Ben A’an, under half the height and a much shorter drive from Callander.