Photos © Home At First

THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN FEBRUARY, 2002. EXPANDED & UPDATED: OCTOBER 2010.

 
Looking east along Balquhidder Glen past Lochs Doine and Voil.
The vantage is the south flank of Stob Binnean above Inverlochlarig.
Rob Roy MacGregor farmed this land with his family and served as the local sheriff.

 
 

360° VIEW OF ROB ROY COUNTRY FROM ATOP STOB BINNEIN
(Click on Image to see full-size photo.)
Photo © Home At First
 

        Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park brings worldwide attention to one of Scotland’s natural treasures, an area that was the home of Rob Roy MacGregor and is home to Home At First’s Central Highlands travel program. Part 1 told how to get to the region, and how casual walkers could best experience its scenic wonders. In Part 2 we suggest walks for the experienced, properly equipped day-hiker and long-distance hiker.

WHAT TO BRING
        Remember to carry the following things, even if you plan a leisurely stroll:

    • FOOD: Something to eat and drink.
    • WET WEATHER: Raingear or (less helpful) an umbrella.
    • DRY WEATHER: Sun protection & sunglasses (let’s be optimistic!).
    • COLD WEATHER: Layers to put on and take off: sweater, windbreaker, gloves, jacket or mackintosh.
    • MAPS: Ordnance Survey Pathfinder (1:25000) Series Sheets NN 41/51 and NN 21/31 or
        Landranger (1:50000) Series Sheets 50, 51, & 57 all apply, although not one map covers
        all the territory of western Balquhidder Glen. At the very least, refer to the Home At First map
        we’ve designed before heading out.

MORE THINGS TO BRING:
        Serious walkers will be in remote, high country, often without any clear trail to guide them. To further complicate matters, quick-moving weather systems sweep in from the North Atlantic across western Scotland and can turn a fair day into a zero-visibility gray-out almost without warning. Therefore, wilderness walkers and overnight hikers need to leave word behind of their planned route. And they need to bring along:
 
    • A COMPASS (and know how to use it).
    • FULL WEATHER PROTECTION.
    • FOOD: Enough provisions for 48 hours.
    • SAFETY: First-aid kit.
    • SECURITY: A companion.

STARTING OUT
        From Balquhidder village, drive west along the north bank of Loch Voil and Loch Doine, approximately 7 miles to the sign-posted car park at Inverlochlarig. The car park is the trailhead for several paths in this rugged hill country. The parking place is the start point for walks in all directions. Many climbers head north across the style and up the south flank of Stob Binnein (1165m, 18th highest peak in Scotland) toward Ben More, the dominant mountain in the region and, at 1174m (3,851 ft), 16th highest peak in Scotland.

Atop Stob Binnein with the peak of
neighboring Ben More in the clouds.
Photo © Home At First

        Unless you intend to climb (steeply) up Stob Binnein, walk south from the car park, following a well-used, broad trail toward the river. After crossing a bridge, the trail becomes a rough, unpaved road, and takes off due west toward the hills at the end of the glen. In 5 minutes the road wanders through the farmhouses and barns at the Inverlochlarig Farm, then continues west, crossing a style, staying north of and parallel to the steam (River Larig). The farm and all the land of the western end of the valley once belonged to Scotland’s bad-boy hero Rob Roy MacGregor.

civilization, the last outpost of which is the farm. The road clambers up and down, following the topography and following the stream, crossing numerous tributaries on its way west. For an easy day walk, follow the road west until it peters out, then return to the Inverlochlarig parking lot and home. Long-distance one-way day hikers have a choice of walks up and out of Balquhidder Glen to the south and the west:
 

        In 45-60 minutes the road is joined by a barely visible trail leading south, crossing the River Larig, then gaining elevation across meadowlands, then climbing steeply until crossing a saddle pass between two humpbacked mountains (Stub a’Choin peak is the eastern hill).

        In another 90-120 minutes you reach the pass, the divide between the Balquhidder Glen, which belongs to the southern Highlands, and Glen Gyle, in the Trossachs, to the shores of Loch Katrine, former home of young Rob Roy MacGregor and his family. This serpentine lake drains high-forested mountains on both sides and naturally sends its water east to the River Forth, the Firth of Forth, Edinburgh, and the North Sea. Now a long aqueduct alters nature, providing Glasgow with its excellent drinking water supply by carrying the water west into the Loch Lomond watershed, the Firth of Clyde and the Atlantic.

         Loch Katrine is better known by generations of readers of Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish romanticist who so portrayed the loch as a Highlands Valhalla. Plying the loch for several decades has been the venerable steamer, Sir Walter Scott, taking throngs of noisy tourists up and down the lake on hour-long standing-room-only cruises.

        Day-hikers will turn southeast on the road along the north shore of Loch Katrine which leads back to civilization 90-120 minutes to the wharf and car park on the eastern end of the loch.

        Long-distance hikers will turn northwest along the north shore of Loch Katrine, leading ever further up Glen Gyle, following an unsightly string of power lines strung up and over the crest at the upper end

SS SIR WALTER SCOTT ON LOCH KATRINE
Photo © Home At First

of the valley. Expect this often boggy, unmarked route to take 3-4 hours before civilization is again reached at Inverarnan in Glen Falloch (see below).

TIMES: Inverlochlarig — Loch Katrine parking lot: 5-7 hours. Inverlochlarig — Loch Katrine — Glen Gyle — Inverarnan (Glen Falloch Lodge on Rt. A82 10km south of Crianlarich): 7-10 hours.

Difficulty Rating: 4-5 stars (out of 5-star maximum difficulty).
 

        If the trail south over the saddle pass to Glen Gyle seems obscure, the trail to the western limits of Balquhidder Glen is, after the end of the road, non-existent.

        Follow the road until it abruptly ends at the confluence of the River Larig with a minor stream coming south from Beinn Chabhair mountain. Cross the streams, continuing west across the meadow as they climb steadily towards the watershed. The turf here can be boggy and quite tufted. Wear good hiking boots and mind your footsteps. It is easy here to soak a boot or turn an ankle.

        After 60-90 minutes of climbing, the last part steeply up the divide, you reach the undulating ridgeline, the border between Scotland’s Strathclyde Region (Loch Lomond) and Central Region (the Balquhidder side). A scramble up any of the high points along this ridge will reward you with a vast 360° view of some of Scotland’s highest peaks and at least three lakes in three watersheds, Loch Lomond, Loch Katrine, and Lochs Doine/Voil).

        Day-hikers will turn east here for the 2.5-3 hours back out to the Inverlochlarig car park and, perhaps, a stop at Monachyle Mhor Hillwalkers’ Bar and Restaurant for a just reward.

TOWARD INVERLOCHLARIG FROM THE DIVIDE
Photo © Home At First

        Long-distance hikers will descend another 60-90 minutes into Glen Falloch, the long north-south valley connecting Glasgow with the Highlands. The west side descent enters Glen Falloch just north of the northern tip of Loch Lomond to the River Falloch near the hikers’ accommodations at Inverarnan. Here is the main north-south road, the A82, from Glasgow to Glen Coe and Ft. William. Here, too, is the railroad from Glasgow to Crianlarich and the western Scotland towns of Ft. William, in the shadows of Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest peak, and Oban and Mallaig, on the sea. The nearest passenger rail station is at Ardlui on the west shore of Loch Lomond, about 1.5-2 miles south of Inverarnan.

        Here also at Inverarnan is access to the West Highland Way, the most famous long-distance trail in Scotland, and possibly in Britain, which leads, essentially, from Glasgow to Ft. William via drovers’ roads and old military tracks. Inverarnan is a key stop on the 5-day trek, as it is roughly two-fifths of the way from Glasgow to Ft. William.

TIMES: Inverlochlarig—Ridge Line (round-trip): 5-7 hours. Inverlochlarig—Ridge Line—Inverarnan (Glen Falloch Lodge on Rt. A82 10km south of Crianlarich): 6-9 hours.

Difficulty Rating: 4-5 stars (out of 5-star maximum difficulty)
 

 
LEARN ABOUT HOME AT FIRST TRAVEL TO SCOTLAND.
 
Day-hiking in Balquhidder Glen and throughout the National Park
is possible from HOME AT FIRST’s lodgings in CENTRAL SCOTLAND.

A full menu of walks (rated from 1 star to 5 stars) is listed among dozens of
activities suggested in HOME AT FIRST’s "SCOTLAND ACTIVITY GUIDE”
provided exclusively to HOME AT FIRST guests to Scotland.

FOR MORE HIKING & BIKING ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL SCOTLAND, SEE:
CLIMBING BEN LAWERS
WALKS IN ROB ROY COUNTRY 2
RAMBLING ROB ROY'S RUSTLING ROUTE
HIKING ACROSS THE BRAES o' BALQUHIDDER
THE DEVIL'S STAIRCASE (WEST HIGHLAND WAY)
CYCLING IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS — CALLANDER TO KILLIN.
  
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