Ben Lomond
— — the beacon above the loch.
Not only on a wall.
“A 974-metre Munro rising from the east shore of Loch Lomond, the southernmost peak above three thousand feet in Scotland. The Gaelic name Beinn Laomainn means beacon mountain, and from the summit on a clear day the eye carries from the Trossachs to the Cuillin of Skye. The footpath from Rowardennan climbs through oak and birch and then onto open hill. Most parties make it up and back in five to six hours.
Ben Lomond, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Ben Lomond stands on the east shore of Loch Lomond in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, about 40 kilometres north of Glasgow. At 974 metres (3,196 feet) it is the most southerly of Scotland's Munros — the term used for hills above 3,000 feet on Sir Hugh Munro's 1891 list. The mountain is owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland and forms part of a memorial to Scots lost in the Second World War. The standard ascent leaves from Rowardennan car park on the loch shore and climbs the south ridge, about 11 kilometres on the round.
The summit weather decides what kind of day it is. Ben Lomond catches Atlantic systems coming up the Firth of Clyde, so even a bright Glasgow morning can find the cairn under cloud by noon. On the clear days the view runs from the Arrochar Alps west across the loch to the Paps of Jura, and on the rarest north to the Cuillin of Skye and south to the hills of Northumberland. The Met Office mountain forecast for the western Highlands is the one to read before setting off. Most parties carry an extra layer even in July.
The standard path leaves the Rowardennan car park on the loch shore, climbs the wooded lower slopes through oak and birch, then steps onto open moor and the south ridge to the summit cairn. The round is about 11 kilometres and takes most parties five to six hours. A quieter descent line drops east down the Ptarmigan ridge for a circular walk back to Rowardennan. The car park fills early on summer weekends; the Sweeney's Cruisers ferry from Tarbet on the west shore is the alternative. The West Highland Way runs along the loch shore beside the trailhead.