Uncategorized | Scotland's Best Walks With Children

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Total distance – 2.5 Kilometres

Ascent – 110 metres

Walking conditions – Well-defined, clearly marked footpaths. No difficulties.

Nearest town – Fort William

Over 100 years ago, Lord Strathcona built the Glencoe Lochan for his Canadian wife to remind her of her own country. Fortunately, my wife is Scottish so this is one expense I won’t have to worry about. Anyway, all I can afford is a paddling pool and I don’t think my wife would appreciate that as a birthday present. What my wife does appreciate however, is a good walk in a spectacular setting and Glencoe Lochan Walks certainly offers this.

There are three short walks (denoted red, blue and yellow) which you’ll find displayed on the noticeboard at the Glencoe Lochan parking area and this is where you start the walk. As they all are short walks it’s easy enough to do a combination of all three.

From the car park follow signs for the blue route. This path ascends around 80 metres through the forest to the higher ground on the eastern side of Glencoe Lochan. At the highest point of the path there’s a lovely viewpoint with a picnic table, so make good use of it before the path takes you straight back down to the loch. Take the loch path in an anti-clockwise direction and when you’ve walked about halfway around you’ll see a yellow post. This is the Woodland Walk which takes you in a 1 Kilometre circuit through the forest and back to the loch, then on to the car park.

Glencoe Lochan Walk

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Total distance – 2.5 Kilometres

Ascent – 120 metres

Walking conditions – Well-defined footpaths and forest tracks. No difficulties.

Nearest town – Fort Augustus

Formerly Kiliwhimin, Fort Augustus was established following the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion. It’s a picture postcard town next to Loch Ness and is perhaps best known for hosting one of the most spectacular of the Caledonian Canal’s series of lochs. Allt na Criche lies just outside Fort Augustus and there’s a great little forest walk circuit that affords excellent views of Loch Ness.

Start the walk at the clearly signposted Allt na Criche car park which is about 1.5 Km north on the A82 outside Fort Augustus. If you choose to go anti-clockwise (like us) you start by walking north up a fairly steep footpath clearly identified by a post with a white stripe (These posts clearly mark the route throughout the walk). Within a couple of hundred metres you will see a waterfall to the right of the footpath. The footpath then takes you directly to a wide forest track with a bridge over the waterfall to your right. However, you’re not going over the bridge here. You’re actually turning left onto the forest track and on to the Great Glen Way. This track provides great views of Loch Ness. and gently winds and ascends for a distance of about 800m until you come to another post with a white stripe turning left down onto to a narrow footpath. This takes you through a dark forest to another wider forest track leading you back to the car park.

Allt na Criche