Edramucky Nature Trail at Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve in Scotland

Ben Lawers is a mountain located in the southern part of the Scottish Highlands. It is the highest peak in the Lawers range and is also the highest point in Perthshire, Scotland, standing at an elevation of 1,214 meters (3,984 feet) above sea level. The mountain is known for its stunning natural beauty and is popular with hikers, climbers and nature enthusiasts.

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During our holiday to the Scottish Highlands with Loch Tay Highland Lodges, we visited the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve which was just a 15 minute drive from the lodge. The National Natural Reserve owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) takes its name from the Ben Lawers mountain. The nature reserve, because of its high altitude and underlying geology, is home to an extraordinarily rich range of arctic-alpine plant species and habitats and thus is of great interest both to botanists and zoologists.

The Ben Lawers Walk to the summit is around 6.5 to 7 miles and is very popular with hikers. It can take between 5-6 hours. It is a walk at a high level and the weather can change in no time as you go up. So, be prepared for all weather conditions as it is very easy to get caught out.

In addition to the summit hike there are many other trails in the Ben Lawers National Natural Reserve like the Edramucky Trail, the Kiltyrie Hidden History Trail and the Morenish Woodland Trail.

We did the Edramucky Trail which is a nature trail that is around 1 mile (with an ascent of 110m) and takes approximately 1.5 to 2 hours to complete.

Edramucky Trail

The Edramucky Trail starts at the Ben Lawers Car Park. We parked our car here and walked through an interpretation area and a surfaced path to reach a small gate. You need to go through the gate, cross the road and continue on the path on the other side of the road.

From this point onwards the trail is marked. There are 10 key markers to guide you along the route.

1. The beginning of the trail is on a raised path and boardwalk which was built to protect the soft, boggy areas from being trampled.

Because of the prevailing wet climate, dead plants do not decompose completely, rather accumulating to form peat. The soil is acidic and has low levels of nutrients so plants growing here need the soil condition to be protected to thrive. And that is why the boardwalk was built.

2. As you continue walking you will reach another small gate that takes you into a fenced area. This fence was put up in the 1990s to prevent animal grazing and to allow the plant life growing here to recover.

As you make your way from Marker 1 to Marker 2, you can see the difference in the landscape. The area inside the fence (on the right in the picture below) is full of vegetation while the area outside the fence (on the left in the picture below) isn't.

Continuing on the path, you reach Marker 2, where the path forks into two. The left one is the main path to the summit while the path on the right is the Edramucky Trail. Continue on the path on the right.

3. The vegetation becomes varied as you approach Marker 3 which is located near a small wooden bridge across a stream. The erosive action of the stream has exposed the nutrient-rich bedrock and you will see many beautiful and colourful mountain plants among the rocks, prominently the mountain fern.

4. As you walk past Marker 4, you will notice mountain willow, one of the many species that is native to this area.

5. The path around Marker 5 includes a habitat featuring plants like water avens, wild angelica, globeflower and purple-flowered wood cranesbill. Mosses are also an important component of this habitat.

If you are visiting in July, you might get a chance to spot the Mountain Ringlet, a beautiful, dark brown butterfly with a row of black-centred orange eyespots on its wings.

6. Section 6 of the trail has a boardwalk to prevent damage to the very interesting and delicate plants found in this part of the trail. You can spot Butterwort and Sundew in this section. Roundleaf Sundew (pictured below) is a carnivorous plant species in the family Droseraceae that grows in bogs and fens with sandy acidic soil. It has small white/pinkish flowers on a long stalk. The plant is known to exude a kind of sticky substance that attracts and then traps small insects etc.

7. As you walk along the stream, take a close look at the exposed rocks. You will see that most of them have a shiny appearance. This is Mica schist. It is a common schistose rock composed mostly of mica and smaller amounts of quartz. 

The area around the stream in Section 7 is where you can spot dragonflies and frogs and palmate newts.

8. This part of the walk offers some lovely views and you can see the development of the woodland around the car park.

9. On this part of the trail, you will walk close to the stream again. It had very little water flowing though, when we visited. We later learnt that the water was being diverted via a small dam upstream into Lochan na Lairige. From there the water was being taken to a power station to generate electricity.

10. At Marker 10, you have the option of an additional 1/2 mile walk upstream to a cluster of ruined small huts known as shielings. If not, you can continue downwards towards the car park.

We walked back down to the car park.

Since we stopped at a lot of points on the trail, using a Plant Identifier app to identify plants and taking photos, it took us a little over 2 hours to complete the trail. We enjoyed it though.

If you are lucky and depending on the season you are visiting in, you may be able to spot red deer, mountain hares, field voles and Ptarmigans (which are native to Scotland and breed exclusively in the Scottish Highlands).

Overall, the Edramucky Trail was lovely. If you are in vicinity, then do visit the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve. It is a great place for nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts who want to experience the beauty and majesty of the Scottish Highlands.

After the trail walking, we made our way to the nearby Ben Lawers Dam. The buttress-type dam is 42m high and 344m long. It is a very quiet and beautiful place and you can even walk across the dam. Stunning views. We loved it.

Useful Information

Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve | Killin FK21 8TY
Telephone | 01567 820988
Email address | [email protected]
Open all year round
Car park | Charges apply, free for NTS members