Ben Lomond

Ben Lomond (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Laomainn, lit. 'Beacon Mountain'), 974 metres (3,196 ft), 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 Memorial Park and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, property of the National Trust for Scotland.

Its accessibility from Glasgow and elsewhere in central Scotland, together with the relative ease of ascent from Rowardennan, makes it one of the most popular of all the Munros: it is estimated that around 30,000 people reach the summit each year. On a clear day, it is visible from the higher grounds of Glasgow and across Strathclyde. Ben Lomond's summit can also be seen from Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Britain, over 40 miles (64 km) away. The West Highland Way runs along the western base of the mountain, by the loch.

Ben Lomond's popularity in Scotland has resulted in several namesakes in the former English colonies Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States – see this list. The mountain is mentioned directly in the popular folk song "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond".

The name Ben Lomond is generally agreed to mean "beacon mountain" or "beacon hill". Lomond is of Brittonic origin and derived from the element lumon meaning "a beacon" (Welsh llumon). This element, preserved in Scots as lum meaning "chimney", is found in other hill-names such as the Lomond Hills in Fife and Pumlumon in Wales. Like these hills, Ben Lomond is likely to have been perceived as a central point, probably the meeting-point of several territorial boundaries, where a signal beacon may have been frequently li,., although in modern parlance the mountain's close proximity to Glasgow and the fact that its summit can seen from parts of the city on a clear day marks it as a beacon of the Highlands to Clydesiders.

Ben Lomond has a craggy summit which appears conical when viewed from the nearby Arrochar Alps range. The mountain comprises two parallel south-southeasterly ridges: the Sròn Aonaich ridge to the east and the Ptarmigan ridge to the west. North of the summit these ridges come together and lead to a 456-metre (1,496 ft) col with Cruin a' Bheinn, a Graham. The summit is grassy and rocky and is marked by a triangulation pillar.

Ben Lomond's geology is dominated by granite, mica schist, diorite, porphyry and quartzite. Ben Lomond lies on the Scottish watershed, the drainage divide which separates river systems that flow to the east from those that flow to the west.

The usual route up Ben Lomond is via the 'tourist path', a wide, eroded and easy path which is roughly paved in steeper sections. This track was created owing to the mountain's status as one of the most popular in Scotland and climbs the gentle Sròn Aonaich ridge, before ascending a steeper section to the rocky summit ridge.

An alternative route follows the Ptarmigan ridge to the summit along a steeper and rockier path. The Ptarmigan path is the second most popular route, followed by a third route which approaches from Gleann Dubh.