Beneath the North Face of Ben Nevis to the CIC hut

The walk starts from the North Face car park at Torlundy. A waymarked path, the North Face Path, climbs through Leanachan Forest by paths and forest tracks to the top of the plantation. Above the trees a mountain path follows the Allt a' Mhuilinn to the mouth of Coire Leis and ends at the Charles Inglis Clark Memorial Hut, at 680 m, at the foot of the cliffs of the north face. Tower Ridge and Observatory Ridge rise above it. The return is the same way.

It is 11.1 km with 630 m of ascent; allow about 4¾ hours. The grade is Hard: a long climb on a rough mountain path to 680 m, on open mountain ground.

This is not a way up Ben Nevis: the cliffs above the hut are for climbers. The hut belongs to the Scottish Mountaineering Club and is for its members to stay in, so leave it undisturbed. Stay on the path: the ground above the hut is climbers' ground. Streams can run high after rain.

The North Face car park is a charging car park run by Forestry and Land Scotland.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.