Ben Venue (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

: A' Bheinn Mheanbh) is a mountain in the

Trossachs The Trossachs (; gd, Na Tròiseachan) generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at the ...

area of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The name Ben Venue is derived from the

words meaning "the miniature mountain". The summit lies approximately 2 kilometres south-west of the pier at the southern end of

Loch Katrine Loch Katrine (; or ) is a freshwater loch in the Trossachs area of the Scottish Highlands, east of Loch Lomond, within the historic county and registration county of Perthshire and the contemporary district of Stirling. The loch is about lon ...

. At the foot of the mountain close to the shore of Loch Katrine is ''Bealach nam Bò'' meaning the "pass of the cattle", a reference to the lawless days when Highland cattle "lifters" used the pass to drive stolen herds to their land. Ben Venue is a popular walk and can be accessed from either Ledard farm track at

Loch Ard Loch Ard (Scottish Gaelic: Loch na h-Àirde) is a loch, located in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Stirling council area, Scotland. Overview The name of the loch comes from ''àird'', the Scottish Gaelic word for a ''promontory, ...

, via the Beinn an Fhogharaidh ridge, or from the car park at the head of

Loch Achray Loch Achray is a small freshwater loch west of Callander in Stirling district, Scotland. The loch lies between Loch Katrine and Loch Venachar in the heart of the Trossachs and has an average depth of . History Loch Achray was for a time the ...

: both routes are approximately 5 km in length. A sign in the forestry warns that the mountain should not be approached or descended directly to or from Loch Katrine, as the slopes on this side are very steep and littered with dangerous cliffs. Several indistinct paths do exist on this side of the hill however. Ben Venue has two summits a short distance apart. The

triangulation pillar A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

on the eastern summit has a height of 727 m

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

, and this height is often given as the height of Ben Venue as a whole. However the western summit is shown to be slightly higher, 729 m, on the

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

's 1:25000 map. From (either) summit on a clear day the view extend to the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

, the

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

and

Isle of Arran The Isle of Arran (; sco, Isle o Arran; gd, Eilean Arainn) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Historically part of Butesh ...

and the

Paps of Jura The Paps of Jura ( gd, Sgurr na Cìche) are three mountains on the western side of the island of Jura, Scotland, Jura, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Their highest point is . They are steep-sided quartzite hills with distinctive conical sh ...

. Good views can be seen along Loch Katrine,

Ben A'an Ben A'an is a hill in the Trossachs in Scotland. The pointed peak of its west top (454 m/1491 ftOrdnance Survey map, 1@25,000 scale ''Explorer'' series, OL 46, ''The Trossachs'', 2015.) resembles a small mountain. Location Ben A'an is sit ...

, Ben More,

Stob Binnein Stob Binnein is a mountain in the southern Highlands of Scotland, near Crianlarich. It forms a twin-peak with Ben More 3,852 ft (1,174 m), from which it is separated by the Bealach-eadar-dha Beinn, meaning ''pass between two hills''. Stob ...

Ben Lomond Ben Lomond (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Laomainn, 'Beacon Mountain'), , is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Me ...

and the

Arrochar Alps The Arrochar Alps are a group of mountains located around the head of Loch Long, Loch Fyne, and Loch Goil, near the villages of Arrochar and Lochgoilhead, on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The mountains are especially popular ...

External links

* A full description of the walks can be found a
www.incallander.co.uk, walking section
{{Coord, 56.225006, -4.461986, display=title, region:GB_type:mountain Grahams Marilyns of Scotland Mountains and hills of the Southern Highlands Mountains and hills of Stirling (council area) Trossachs