Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve

Our View

Ben Lawers, towering 3,984ft above Loch Tay, is the highest mountain in the central Highlands and forms the core of the Ben Lawers NNR, which encompasses nine mountains on the southern slopes of the Ben Lawers and Tarmachan ranges. Ben Lawers is famous for its botanical riches, where the rare mix of lime-rich underlying rocks, high altitude and climate combine to make the reserve a haven for a huge diversity of arctic-alpine flora, many of which are endangered species. In midsummer, the slopes of Ben Lawers are as colourful as an alpine garden. The yellow flowers of globeflower, roseroot and yellow saxifrage grow beside pink-flowered tussocks of mossy campion and spring-flowering purple saxifrage. Some of the plants on these cliffs are real rarities, such as the rich blue alpine gentian and the paler blue flowers and pink buds of alpine forget-me-not. The area is also home to a variety of other wildlife including red deer, ptarmigan, black grouse and ravens, and in summer, the mountain ringlet butterfly.