Beinn Narnain trail head on west side of Loch Long.
Overview of route towards Beinn Narnain.
Upper part of route to The Cobbler.
| Beinn Narnain & The
Cobbler from Arrochar Beinn Narnain The Cobbler |
| Estimated net time | 4½-6 hours | ||
| Difficulty | The route is in general easy in all places except the upper 3-4 metres of The Cobbler. For this upper few metres expect to have to involve yourself in some advanced scrambling. | ||
| Drinking water | There's access to running water both during ascent of Beinn Narnain and descent of The Cobbler. | ||
| GSM coverage | Probably coverage throughout the route (May 2015). | ||
| Parking | Room for many cars at trail head car park, but it does require a pay-and-display procedure. | ||
| Start height | 5 metres | ||
| Vertical metres | 1215 metres for the roundtrip. | ||
| Trip distance | 12.0 km | ||
| GPS-file | X | ||
| Map |
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| Route photo |
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From Arrochar, where roads A83 and A814 intersect, drive A83 1.2 km (0.75 mi) in the direction of Inveraray. Turn left onto the car park and find parking where there's an allowed space.
From the car park head 60 metres south from the car park, cross the road, and then head take on the good path. Leave the path on a rougher path and follow this path all the way to the summit, which is marked by a summit cairn.
From Beinn Narnain head north-west and later north/north-west, and aim for the saddle between Beinn Narnain and The Cobbler. Walk directly uphill and head for an obvious point where you have a slightly higher point out towards the left. From here traverse ten metres or so and creep through a hole in the rock formation. Turn left and head a few metres towards a more slanting height. Turn uphill and enter the crux of the hike; one single move requiring a slightly determined move. When this move is done head the last one or two metres to the highest point on The Cobbler. In order to get back down it's advised that you head downhill with the face outward, but either way goes.
From the summit descend by reversing your ascent route down to the saddle between The Cobbler and Beinn Narnain. Take on the long, and eventually fairly boring hike, all the way back down to the car.
Erling and I was on the move again and on this Saturday we were hitting the west coast of Scotland. We aimed for the direct route up Beinn Narnain's south-east slopes and found the slightly exposed sections to be doable without any major climbing. Or should I rather say what the guy further down told us; "you will get up without any problems and will also make the descent". At Beinn Narnain we sat down for a little and just soaked in the relatively fine air.
From Beinn Narnain we continue north/north-west towards the saddle between Beinn Narnain and The Cobbler. From here we headed directly up to The Cobbler's summit area. A guy was taking photos of his wife, while we were waiting for our turn to have a go at The Cobbler. This turned out to be a fairly straight forward few metres, but don't underestimate the one single move in order to get up the far west corner of the ridge. From here continue another couple of metres and you're at the summit. In order to get back down it's probably best to head down the crux with the face outward and then descend back down to the hole, and through it.
From The Cobbler head back down to the saddle, turn right, and take on the long and fairly boring hike back down to the car.