Glen Nevis is a glen

Glen

A glen is a valley, typically one that is long, deep, and often glacially U-shaped; or one with a watercourse running through such a valley. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower than a strath."...

 in Lochaber

Lochaber

District of Lochaber 1975 to 1996Highland council area shown as one of the council areas of ScotlandLochaber is one of the 16 ward management areas of the Highland Council of Scotland and one of eight former local government districts of the two-tier Highland region...

, Highland

Highland (council area)

Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, with Fort William at its foot. It is bordered to the south by the Mamore

Mamores

The Mamores are a group of mountains in the Lochaber area of the Grampian Mountains in the Scottish Highlands. They form an east-west ridge approximately fifteen kilometres in length lying between Glen Nevis to the north and Loch Leven to the south....

 range, and to the north by the highest mountains in the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

: Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles. It is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William....

, Càrn Mor Dearg

Carn Mòr Dearg

Càrn Mòr Dearg is the eighth highest mountain in Scotland. It is situated in the west of Scotland, close to the town of Fort William, in Lochaber, Highland...

, Aonach Mòr

Aonach Mòr

Aonach Mòr is a mountain in the Highlands of Scotland. It is located about 2 miles/ 3 km north east of Ben Nevis on the south side of Glen Spean, near the town of Fort William...

, and Aonach Beag

Aonach Beag

Aonach Beag is a mountain in the Highlands of Scotland. It is located about 3 km east of Ben Nevis on the north side of Glen Nevis, near the town of Fort William...

. It is home to one of the three highest waterfall

Waterfall

A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...

s in Scotland, Steall Falls

Steall Waterfall

The spectacular waterfall known variously as An Steall Bàn, Steall Waterfall or Steall Falls is situated in Glen Nevis near Fort William, Highland, Scotland. It is Britain's second highest waterfall with a single drop of 120 metres...

, where the Allt Coire a'Mhail joins the Water of Nevis in the glen. Below the waterfall is a steeply walled and impressive gorge.

From the car park at the end of the Glen Nevis road, a path continues through a gorge. After a scramble up this rocky path, the view opens up and the path leads into the peaceful upper glen. A wire bridge crosses to the base of the waterfall. This bridge was closed for three months in 2010 when one of the cables snapped.

The path has been improved periodically to ease access and to reduce the damaging effects of soil erosion caused by many walkers, but it remains challenging in places, and as the sign at the car park warns, potentially fatal. There have been several accidents in Glen Nevis, including the death of a young walker in August 2006.

Several films have been shot in Glen Nevis, including some scenes from the Harry Potter movies, Braveheart

Braveheart

Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...

 and Rob Roy.

Glen Nevis river race

A 2 mile race down the River Nevis has been run on August Bank Holidays. Competitors use floating aids, such as LiLo's to navigate the river. The race can take from 30min to 2hours. After a hiatus of several years, the race was run again in 2008 and 2009.

Footnotes