A horseshoe of pleasing peaks yoked by sculpted crests, the Ring of Steall comes as close to perfection as any ridge walk in Scotland. Tracing an obvious loop through the middle third of the Mamores range, it is long and tough enough for a full day's leg stretch, yet still an achievable challenge for an average hillwalker. Scrambling sections on the photogenic Devil's Ridge and the craggy An Garbhanach crest inject little spikes of adrenaline to keep you keen, but there's nothing too gripping here to break the flow. With the castellated Glen Coe peaks to one side, the bulk of The Ben and Co to the other, and the fjord of Loch Leven at your feet, the setting is vintage West Highlands. And if all that wasn't enough there's a rousing finale yet to come, under Steall's foaming falls, across a wobbly wire bridge, and through the spectacular wooded gorge of the Water of Nevis, a Chinese landscape painting transplanted into home soil. How do you better that? The only way I know is to wait for winter conditions, when this classic hill walk gains a real mountaineering edge.
9.49 miles, 15.27 km, 1,824m ascent, 8 hours. Fort William
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