Ben Cruachan (and 5 more summits) from Coal Pit Road

This track goes up Ben Cruachan and in the way it goes up also another 5 mountains:
   • Mount Edward
   • Mount Salmond
   • {Mount Friend}
   • {Ben Liliput}
   • {Ben ForgetMeNot}

It looks like Department of Conservation New Zealand (DOC) defines it as Glenroy Water Race Track and the optional detour as "Historic Welshmen’s Water Race".

The track starts at the end of the Coal Pit road where there is an area with enough space for parking maybe 10 or 20 cars.
We start walking by crossing a gate and then following a 4WD track for about 2.7 kilometres where we get through another gate and one kilometre further we get to Coal Pit saddle. On the way up to Coal Pit Saddle we saw a couple of historical machinery.

From Coal Pit Saddle you have the option to make a left and go up Mount Rosa. We did Mount Rosa some other day but following the Mount Rosa Track from DOC instead.

Once at the Coal Pit Saddle we go over a fence and here we have two options to continue. We can continue up on the ridge or follow the "Historic Welshmen’s Water Race". We decided to go up following the ridge and on our way back we took the "Historic Welshmen’s Water Race" detour.
When going up the ridge make sure you are on the left-hand side of the fence because the right-hand side is private property.
We start going up the ridge and about 1.5 kilometres we make a quick 120 meters detour on the right to summit Mount Edward and enjoy the first views of the day. There is a Trig at the summit but it's on the other side of the fence, on private land.
We go down the 120 meters detour and get back on the 4WD track.
2.35 kilometres further we find a signpost to get the "Historic Welshmen’s Water Race". This is the track that we will take on our way back.
We continue on the track for another kilometre and we get to the summit of Mount Salmond.
Next to Mount Salmond we have {Mount Friend} but we decide to leave it for when we are coming back.
1.5 kilometers further on the track we find {Ben Liliput} which we also leave for our way down.
Next is one of the main targets of the day, {Ben ForgetMeNot}, and in fact the highest of all and it's the only one with an elevation over 2000 meters. For this one we need to go off the track and there is no marked track going up to {Ben ForgetMeNot}.
The spot where you make a left and go off track is located at 11.5 kilometres from where we parked our car. The total distance that we need to go off track until we reach the summit of {Ben ForgetMeNot} is about 500 meters. It is not difficult but it's steep, with 170 meters of elevation gain. In the first meters we find small loose rocks and the rocks get bigger the closer to the summit we get which makes it easier to walk. At the summit it's all big rocks.
From the summit we enjoy the best views of the day. We can see our next target, Ben Cruachan, just in front of us. On the other side we can see Double Cone.

To continue to our main goal of the day, Ben Cruachan, we go down the same way we came up until we get back to the track.
From here we have a more or less flat section of about 500 meters and then we have to go down for another 500 meters before we start the final ascent to Ben Cruachan. We lose about 80 meters of elevation and go up around 120 meters in the 1.2 kilometres final ascent.
At Ben Cruachan summit we enjoy the fantastic views of the surroundings before we decide to head back.

On our way back we summit the two easy mountains we left behind, {Ben Liliput} and {Mount Friend}. They require very short detours from the track.
Also on our way back we take the detour to follow the "Historic Welshmen’s Water Race". This increases the length of the track by about one extra kilometre. The first part of the "Historic Welshmen’s Water Race" is steep down and then it gets flat and a bit boring. Be aware that vegetation in some sections of this detour is a bit overgrown and makes it harder to see which way to follow. We also encountered some muddy spots. This detour is not difficult just a bit more inconvenient than the direct route.

Once we get to the Coal Pit Saddle we follow the 4WD track all the way down to the car.

In summary, this is a nice hike, quite long, where you can summit several mountains including one over 2000 meters.
A couple of remarks, there is no water anywhere on the hike so make sure you bring enough. You won't find any trees either so you'll be exposed to the sun from start to end. Due to this some sunscreen may save your day.

Even though this is a DOC track you won't find any kind of orange markers, not even in the "Historic Welshmen’s Water Race".

One last consideration, if I ever do this track again I will probably change the route slightly. When at the summit of {Ben ForgetMeNot} Instead will consider not going down and then up again to get to Ben Cruachan. It looks easier to continue on the ridge to peak 1972m and then to peak 1876 metres and from there straight to Ben Cruachan. This way you won't lose that much elevation.



Full description and more pictures at Back from Summit: Ben Cruachan