Ben Lawers () (the figure of 3,983 ft is a conversion from metric - the surveyed height from the main triangulation has always been 3,984 ft on imperial maps published since the 1870s.
Ben Lawers is formed of metamorphic rock, most notably calcareous mica-schists, and lower down, schistose grits. Although only the 11th highest Munro, it is the second highest non-igneous peak after Aonach Beag, which owes its exceptional height to proximity to Ben Nevis (the other high igneous group being the Cairngorms). Ben Lawers stands out by around 100-200 metres from neighbouring massifs as an isolated landmark 30 km east of the main Highlands watershed along or near which comparably high peaks are ranged. This associates with its proximity to the major Caledonide Loch Tay Fault along which kilometric displacements have occurred; adjacent to this fault are other landmark peaks at Ben Vorlich and Beinn a'Ghlo. The summit of Ben Lawers is affected by a pair of conspicuous Rock Slope Failures, providing shelter in their landslipped recesses, havens for wildlife, and large debris masses in the south corrie which if reinstated could restore a pre-historic summit in excess of 4,000 ft.
Ben Lawers lies on the local watershed between the rivers Tay and Lyon. Since the 1950s, water has been captured from the numerous burns on the south face of Ben Lawers and Meall nan Tarmachan as part of the Breadalbane Hydro-Electric Scheme. The water is diverted to the Lochan na Lairige, from where it is piped to drive hydro-electric turbines at Finlarig on the banks of Loch Tay.
Overgrown tracks climb up the mountain from the valley to the peat beds and sheilings on the hillside, and there are ruins of cottages each surrounded by a small group of trees. These, along with the remains of ridged pastures, are signs of early cultivation. This evidence of habitation, and the presence of huts associated with transhumance at high elevation, demonstrate that local people are likely to have visited most if not all of the summits of the Ben Lawers range whilst grazing animals at height during the summer. Otherwise, the earliest recorded ascent was by members of a party organised by military surveyor William Roy: although it is not certain that Roy himself climbed the peak, his writings show that measurements were taken from the summit of Ben Lawers on 17 September 1776.
In 1878, a group of twenty men led by Malcolm Ferguson spent a day building a cairn nearly in diameter in the hope of bringing the summit above the "magic" figure of . The cairn, which was topped with a massive block of white quartz is no longer there; in any case the Ordnance Survey ignored it as an artificial structure that was not truly part of the hill.
Ownership
Prior to the 14th century, the mountain stood on the lands of Clan MacMillan. Chalmers of Lawers obtained the land by force from the clan in the mid-14th century in the reign of David II. The land was confiscated from the Chalmers family in 1473 by James III and given to Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchy after Thomas Chalmers was implicated in the murder of James I. The lands have mainly remained in the ownership of the Campbells of Glenorchy and Breadalbane up to the present day, with some notable exceptions. Many of the farms were sold off in the late 1940s.
Most of the south side of the Ben Lawers range has since 1950 been owned by the National Trust for Scotland, and was purchased through the generosity of Percy Unna, a mountaineer and one time president of the Scottish Mountaineering Club. The area of land under trust ownership was extended in 1996 by the purchase of the neighbouring Tarmachan range. A new car park has been built on the opposite side of the road, from where a path leads to the summit of Ben Lawers by way of the intermediate peak of Beinn Ghlas. There is a nature trail on the lower section of this path, with information leaflets available in the car park.
The northern side of the Ben Lawers range comprises three privately owned estates, at Roroyere, Roromore, and South Chesthill. All three cover land extending from Glen Lyon to the watershed of the ridge. As with all land in Scotland, there is a freedom to roam on the hills regardless of whether the land is in public or private ownership, provided that access is exercised responsibly, in accordance with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.