This walk through Nevis Gorge to Steel Waterfall is a short one with not much effort .
There is almost 300 metres to climb, much of it being soon after the start on the path through the gorge of Glen Nevis.
Nevis Gorge to Steel Waterfall.
The walk heads through a narrow and wooded gorge towards the Glen and ends up at the magnificent Steall waterfall.
The waterfall appears on arrival in the natural amphitheatre of the upper glen where viewing the falls and the surrounding highlands can be enjoyed across the meadow.
The return journey retraces steps taken through the gorge.
Only this time it is easier passage, being downhill.
Parking:
This I expect to be very busy. We arrived early in the morning and found a space but on return down the gorge, more people had joined the trail and it was busy.
Then on return every man and his dog was trying to park motorhomes, trucks, cars and even buses where trying to negotiate they way down the single track road to the full car park.
The walk through Nevis Gorge to Steel Waterfall takes you through the gorge which has been carved out by the Water of Nevis.
The gorge is on the south side of the mountain. The summit of Ben Nevis is approximately one and a half miles due north of the car park.
The walk up the gorge is tough from the start and the first half mile particularly arduous with the walk to the crossing of Allt Garbh entailing 80 metres of ascent in 400 metres of travel.
It equates to a 20% gradient.
There were quite a few walkers easing their way along the path up the gorge. With my high energy levels of the last few days walking tanked I passed most; into my seventh decade and positively bounding along!
The gorge is steeply wooded, trees rising high to the left and falling steeply into the chasm of the gorge on the right.
At some points on the path trees are sparse which allow a clear view to the right, a view over the near tree tops to the north facing slopes of Sgurr a Mhaim on the Mamores range of mountains found south of Ben Nevis.
They are an impressive sight. Sgurr a Mhaim may be little known in comparison to many other mountain but at 1099 metres high it is bigger than any mountain of England and Wales.
After crossing Allt Garbh the going got much easier and for the first time on the walk I could actually see Water of Nevis as it tumbled down the gorge.
There were huge boulders in and around the river bed which most likely had crashed in to the gorge from the precipitous slopes of Ben Nevis.
The same steep slopes edges up to the path forcing me around path-edge boulders.
It is an impressive gorge, of that there is no doubt.
The gorge opened out in an instant.
I could very easily have waded across Water of Nevis here and possibly kept my feet dry in the effort.
Here was a rope bridge across Water of Nevis where some young folk were mastering their rope bridge crossing skills.
It was here that I was expecting my Son to end up very wet as he only has to look at water to get wet.
But no, he made it across only to get his legs completely soaked whilst trying to traverse the rocks back across the river.
I decided to fly the DJI Spark here but I was getting eaten alive by midges so kept the flight short. I had decided to film him crossing the rope bridge but school boy error hadn’t pressed record. So I only got a little footage (see below).
The waterfall is also known as An Steall Bàn “The White Spout”
It is Scotland’s second highest waterfall with a single drop of 120 metres and well worth the effort of climbing through the gorge to sit and observe it.
More information on walking this route.
Walking Nevis Gorge to Steel Waterfall.