Summer Field Event Saturday 28 June 2025, 10am-5pm
Ben Chonzie (via Glen Turret)
Leader: John Holland
Alpine Field Meeting
An Alpine Identification Adventure with Leader: John Holland
BSS Signup Link – places are limited
When: Saturday 28 June 2025, 10am – 5pm
Where: meeting at the car park at the Loch Turret dam at the end of the Glen Turret road approximately 6km north-west of Crieff (NN 821 265) at 10:00am.
What: This year’s BSS alpine field meeting will be to Ben Chonzie (via Glen Turret) on Saturday 28th June (10:00 – 17:00). Ben Chonzie is the highest point (929 m) in the south-eastern Highlands approximately 13 km north-west of Crieff. It is a SSSI with an extensive range of moorland communities including blanket mire, heather moorland, montane heaths and acidic grasslands. Both acidic and calcareous flushes occur in places, and herb-rich grasslands occur beneath the species-rich cliffs. Species we will hope to see include Betula nana and Cornus suecica in the blanket mire, and Botrychium lunaria, Draba incana, Arabis hirsuta, Potentilla crantzii, Salix arbuscula, Saussurea alpina, Galium sterneri and Polystichum lonchitis in the more calcareous flushes and species-rich grassland and on the cliff ledges. There is also a chance of seeing peregrine, twite and ring ouzel, and we will look out for the ring-billed gull that has summered on Loch Turret with the common gulls since 2009. In the past Ben Chonzie has also been a good place to see mountain hares. The moderately challenging route goes along the track beside Loch Turret for about 6 km to Lochan Uaine before heading up the steep slope towards Biorach A’Mheannain and the summit ridge. The overall distance to the summit of Ben Chonzie and back is approximately 16 km. We may not go as far as the summit; it will depend on the group and the weather conditions.
