Great Glen Way Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

The Great Glen Way is a 79 mi (127 km) hike between Fort William and Inverness in the Scottish Highlands.

The Great Glen is a fault line that slashes diagonally across Highland Scotland. Glaciers carved the fault into a valley which was flooded by three long lakes (Loch Lochy, Oich and Ness), linked in the 19th century by a coast-to-coast canal. It's always been a natural transport route. Beyond the mainland, the fault stretches undersea north to Shetland and southwest through Donegal.

The Great Glen Way, designated as a way-marked long distance trail in 2002, traverses the glen. That means it is at no great altitude and seldom far from the main road, with bail-out options. A suggested itinerary is to walk it over six days, or by mountain bike in two or three. The recommended direction is from Fort William northeast to Inverness, to have the sun and weather at your back. This gives you firm level going to start with along the canal towpath, with rougher ground and ridges (they're no more than that) encountered about halfway along. But do as you please, it can easily be done as a series of there-and-back Sunday afternoon strolls.

The route can be walked any time of year but is a pleasanter proposition in summer, with milder weather, longer days and less boggy terrain underfoot. That's the peak tourist season so everything's open, but accommodation and transport may fill up. So you need to book your overnight stops, which commits you to travelling a fixed distance each day come wind or weather.

Fort William the usual start point has trains and buses from Glasgow, plus a sleeper train from London Euston. The train is scenic and takes 4 hours from Glasgow, continuing to Glenfinnan and Mallaig. The bus takes a shorter route through Glencoe and does it in 3 hours, continuing to the Isle of Skye.

Inverness has an airport, and trains and buses from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, plus from Thurso (for Orkney) in the north and another portion of the sleeper from London.

Both cities have good all-year road connections but the highways are mostly undivided, traffic builds up behind the slow fellow towing a caravan, and overtaking accidents are a risk.

A bus connects Fort William and Inverness. The railway is long gone, though part of the Great Glen Way uses its track bed.

57°8′24″N 4°40′12″W

Map of Great Glen Way

Distance

10.5 mi (16.9 km)

56.8213-5.10741 Fort William old fort is the start point, near the railway station. Fort William is a proper town, with accommodation and other amenities, though only a sea wall remains of the fort. The town is the north terminus of the West Highland Way and the base to climb Ben Nevis, as if you didn't have enough walking ahead of you. The Great Glen Way hugs the coast to Inverlochy (with a more substantial castle ruin) then west to Corpach (railway station).

This is the foot of the Caledonian Canal, and you follow the towpath up Neptune's Staircase, an impressive flight of locks. The way continues along the canal until the swing bridge at 56.913-4.99732 Gairlochy. It's a tiny village at the outlet of Loch Lochy, with little accommodation and no shops. Spean Bridge 4 miles east has more facilities and a railway station. This section is mostly level.

Distance

13 mi (21 km)

While the main road is east, the Great Glen Way cleaves to the west side of Loch Lochy: the "pepper pot lighthouse" marks the entrance to the canal. Follow the minor road to Clunes, by the outflow from Loch Arkaig. This area is Lochaber, homeland of Clan Cameron, and there's a museum and clan graveyard. It is not worth diverting to Loch Arkaig in search of its legendary lost Jacobite treasure and equally improbable monster, so continue on the forest track to 57.027-4.82553 Laggan. Laggan is a straggling place along the canal, with little accommodation. This section is mostly level.

Distance

12 mi (19 km)

Follow the towpath to Invergarry Bridge at the southern outlet of Loch Oich. This marks the head of the Caledonian Canal, where the waterway descends in both directions. The trail follows the old railway line along the east side of Loch Oich, now a peaceful cycleway. The former railway station houses a 57.045457-4.7972071 small museum, open to visitors. The route continues north past Invergarry, where the shell of a castle stands within the grounds of a hotel offering accommodation. Beyond the loch’s outlet, the path threads between the River Oich and the Caledonian Canal, passing two more locks before reaching 57.1432-4.68074 Fort Augustus.

Fort Augustus is a small town with accommodation and eating places. The old fort has variously been an abbey, a scandal-hit school and an outdoor activities centre, and is now apartments. The canal descends by a flight of locks into Loch Ness: boat trips putter out in search of the monster, but to date none have been devoured.

Distance

9 mi (14 km)

The Great Glen Way is west of the loch, as is the main road. Choose between the low-level route by the lochside, or climbing through the forest onto the high-level track, which adds a mile. They re-unite at 57.216-4.61865 Invermoriston, which has accommodation available, by the low-level route, so you might combine it with the next section to Drumnadrochit.

Distance

14 mi (23 km)

Again you have a choice of a low-level route along the lochside, or the more scenic high-level route. A third of the way along, the lower route climbs steeply to re-unite with the higher. Continue on forest tracks past Grotaig, then descend through Clunebeg Wood into 57.3373-4.486 Drumnadrochit.

Drumnadrochit is a large village that subsists on Nessie tourism, with kitsch souvenirs and a kiddy-theme park. Every coach tour of the Highlands stops here. However Urquhart Castle is impressive, and the Loch Ness Centre relates the genuine story of the loch. Lots of accommodation, and boat trips venture out on the loch.

Distance

20 mi (32 km)

You have to walk a mile out of the village along the busy A82 to rejoin the Great Glen Way, which climbs steeply to Abriachan, a common break point for this long stage. The route continues along forest tracks through Craig Leach Forest and follows an old cattle drove road to the edge of 57.4763-4.22557 Inverness, then descends steeply to the Bught playing fields and follows the River Ness into the city centre. This substantial Highland city offers accommodation, transport, and attractions, with the castle marking the ceremonial northern end of the trail.

The usual precautions for open country apply, but this is not a wilderness and you're seldom far from the main highway. You're likely sleeping in hostels and B&Bs along the way and don't need the supplies and gear necessary for a back-country bivouac, just day provisions. Carry warm and waterproof clothing even in summer, conversely use sun protection even if it's cloudy.

Midges are a nuisance in summer especially in the evening, although not in the hungry clouds encountered further west. Don't camp out if you react badly to bites. No repellent known to science completely deters the West Highland Midge, only a stiff breeze or cold day. Try the Smidge brand of repellent, or an oily moisturiser like Avon Skin so Soft, or wear a head net, or invoke the traditional folk-remedy of cussing continually while flapping a handkerchief round your face; these all work about the same.

If you have accommodation booked but your plans change, please call and cancel. It frees the space for other hikers and if you simply no-show, they might call out the local rescue team fearing you're in a bad way.

Other long distance paths in Scotland include:

• Speyside Way is an 85 mi (137 km) walking and cycling route from Buckie on the northeast coast to Newtonmore.
• West Highland Way is a 96 mi (154 km) walking route from Glasgow to Fort William.
• John Muir Way is a 120 mi (190 km) walking and cycling route across the central lowlands from Dunbar to Helensburgh.
• Southern Upland Way is a 212 mi (341 km) walking route from coast to coast in the Scottish Borders.