If you read last week’s blog, you’ll know that we recently spent a week exploring Lochaber in the West Highlands. We had an amazing time and we were lucky enough to get a week full of sunshine with no wind – perfect for hiking. We always try and do walks from different parts of the region we are visiting, which we did, but we also spent a lot of time walking in and around Glencoe. It’s an insanely beautiful area and widely thought of as the home of Scottish mountaineering – but that’s not to say that there aren’t lots of easier walks to take on too.
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The Pap of Glencoe
That being said, for our first foray out into Glencoe we did indeed pick a hill walk (although admittedly not a very scary hill walk). Being something of a wuss with big hill days/exposed ridges, I vetoed a lot of Sam’s suggestions (sorry Sam) and we instead settled on a jaunt up the Pap of Glencoe. At 742m it’s not a Munro, but according to our Pocket Mountains guide, it has some of the best views in the area. It can also be completed in half a day, meaning you’re not losing the will to live trudging along a hill path for 9 hours.
We followed the four mile linear route from our Pocket Mountains guide – I believe it can be done as a circular, but it makes an already very rough walk even rougher. We parked in the forest car park just after the Glencoe Lochans car park (donations), and the ascent starts pretty much straight away. It’s mostly pretty steep going and very loose underfoot, so while there is a clear path for much of the way, care is still needed and you need to pay attention to where you’re putting your feet. Stopping for a breather is highly recommended as the views back over the village and loch are absolutely lovely.
When we reached the col between the Pap and the neighbouring Munro, we forked left, with the path becoming even rockier and rougher. As the final ascent starts, the path becomes tricky to see and we ended up relying on small cairns and our OS maps app to find the way up – the best way to approach is diagonally and then from the north east. Be warned it’s very steep and almost scrambly in places. It didn’t feel too exposed to me, but then I kept my eyes on where I was going!
The views from the summit are outstanding in all directions and I would 100% recommend saving this walk for a nice day. There were a few other groups up there at the same time as us, but we’d set off early and summited two hours later at around 11.30am, so it wasn’t busy by any means.
We ate our lunch at the summit, then retraced our steps back the way we’d come – which was surprisingly easier than going up for some reason. As we made our way back down we started to pass an increasing number of people making their way up the hill, and we were glad we’d gotten there early. The real surprise though was rounding a corner towards the end of the walk and coming across a herd of feral goats on the path! They weren’t remotely bothered by us and carried on grazing as we passed. I don’t think the dogs quite knew what to make of them so they thankfully stayed quiet.
Dog friendly rating – 2.5/5. While there are no stiles to worry about, this is a tough walk which requires your dog to be agile and scramble over rough, rocky terrain. We saw both sheep and goats on this walk, and there were also some steep drops in places, which meant that we kept leads on throughout this walk. There is water in some places on the lower slopes, but nothing higher up, and our dogs polished off a litre of water between them that we’d carried for them.
The Lost Valley
Did you even go to the West Highlands if you didn’t hike the Lost Valley of Glencoe? This was the question I was asking myself as we drew towards the end of our trip. Arguably one of Britain’s most famous hikes, we tend to avoid places that we know will be busy. But, as the week was coming to a close, we finally cracked and set off to arrive at the Three Sisters viewpoint car park (where the walk starts) for 9am.
We followed a linear walk of around two and a half miles (total) from our Pocket Mountains guide. Much of the walk is very rocky underfoot and at times three points of contact are required – I was horrified by some of the footwear we saw people walking in! At one point the route crosses a river which can be the end of the walk if it’s been raining a lot, however this didn’t pose an issue for us and we were able to cross easily to continue the walk.
It’s surprisingly strenuous clambering over all the rocks in your way, but after the river crossing there’s only final bit of ascent and a rocky slab to navigate, before you arrive in the valley. It is very much worth the walk (and getting there earlier), with mountains towering over you on all sides. You can walk along the valley floor but you need to turn round eventually, or you’ll start climbing one of the hills instead.
Returning back the way we’d come, again we started to see a lot more people. Everyone was having a great time and a lot of fun on the scrambly sections – they are exhilarating rather than scary, but all the same attention is needed to make sure you don’t unexpectedly take a tumble. I spent a lot of time scratching my head wondering how Clan Macdonald managed to get the rustled cattle into the valley to hide them!
Dog friendly rating – 2.5/5. Probably the most dog friendly thing about this walk is that it is stile free, and Merry enjoyed having a swim when we crossed over the waterfall. We also didn’t see any livestock (but don’t count on not seeing deer). Dogs doing this walk will need to be agile enough to get up and down the rockier sections, and exposed/sheer drops mean that in places leads should be on. The start and end of the walk also requires you to climb a metal staircase, which both of our dogs didn’t like and had to be carried down (although they were happy to walk back up it at the end bizarrely).
The Brecklet Trail
It was our last full day, and hiking to the Lost Valley had only used up a few hours. With the whole afternoon still ahead of us, we drove back to Ballachulish, where we parked at the Visitor Centre to walk the Brecklet Trail, which explores Ballachulish’s quarrying past.
We followed a 2 mile circular route, which we found in our Pocket Mountains guide. The walk starts by climbing up over the old quarry, then climbing some more to reach a rather dark and dense woodland. I’m not sure if it’s actually as steep a climb as it felt at the time or if my legs were just very tired after a week of hiking, but at least it was over pretty quickly.
Once in the woods, there’s soon a nice viewpoint with a picnic bench looking out over Ballachulish, which would be a lovely place to sit for lunch. We carried on into the woods – the path zig zags through the trees without much to see, eventually reaching some ruined buildings (please respect signs asking you not to climb through them due to danger of falling masonry).
On leaving the woods, it’s a short walk along the quiet roads of Ballachulish back to the start. This section took us a little longer as there were some unsupervised dogs hanging around outside one of the houses, and we decided to wait for 10 minutes to see if they’d disappear before attempting to walk past (which they did, phew).
Dog friendly rating – 4/5. This is another stile free walk with no livestock, and plenty of opportunities for off lead in the woods, where there are also a few streams to paddle in. I’ve just knocked off one point for the road section at the end and the chance of coming across unsupervised off-lead dogs – who would probably be fine if you don’t have a reactive dog like Coal.
The West Highland Way from Glencoe Ski Centre
Before we knew it, it was our last day, and the sun was still shining. It would have been criminal to go back home (where it was raining) without squeezing in one last walk en route. We drove down to the large car park outside Glencoe Ski Centre and walked along the West Highland Way for a few miles – it was definitely enough of a taster to make me want to do the full thing in future.
We walked to Ba Cottage on Rannoch Moor, a tumbledown ruin which must have seen some very bleak weather in its exposed and lonely spot. Getting here on the West Highland Way was no chore at all, with a good, well surfaced path and no steep inclines or declines (although, the walkers we saw heading up the inclines with their enormous backpacks looked like they were finding them slightly tougher. I think if we do the West Highland Way at any point, I’ll definitely pay the extra for a baggage transfer service!).
I love a walk that gives great views for minimal effort, and this walk definitely falls into that category. Being linear and requiring no turns off the main path, navigation is extremely easy, and we arrived back at the car feeling very satisfied with our choice (but also sad to be leaving).
Dog friendly rating – 5/5. This was, yet again, a stile and livestock free walk. Stiles definitely don’t seem to be as much of a thing in Scotland as they are in England, which is always something I’m thankful for! We did meet one local dog walker who warned us, sadly, that this stretch of the West Highland Way has an issue with humans leaving poo and wet wipes lying around after wild camping, so this is something to keep in mind if your dog is a scavenger.
Where we stayed
I don’t know if I was just being picky, but it took me a long time to find somewhere to stay for this trip. I spent hours scouring the internet and eventually stumbled across Invergloy Riverside Lodges on the Visit Scotland listings, and nothing else I saw after that lived up to what I’d seen on their website.
Located just outside of Spean Bridge, everywhere we wanted to visit was within an hour’s drive, and the lodges themselves offer the perfect base for when you’re not out exploring. Set in 14 acres of private grounds, there are three lodges to choose from, which prevents the site from feeling crowded or busy and maintains its status as a peaceful haven. The lodges have windows on three sides and it’s very much like living in a wildlife hide: we saw dozens of birds and we had red squirrels on our bird feeder every morning while we were eating breakfast.
The lodges are very well appointed, spacious, and have everything you need. We very much weren’t ready to leave at the end of our stay! On top of all this, there is a private beach which guests can use to access Loch Lochy for water sports, fishing, or just for a lovely evening stroll.
Dog friendly rating – 4/5. Up to three dogs are welcome to join you free of charge, with more dogs allowed by prior arrangement. The outside balcony area is enclosed, but as we didn’t want the dogs to toilet on this, it was no chore at all to walk them through the grounds for a pre bedtime and early morning wee.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about our adventures in Lochaber! We had a wonderful time and I’d definitely recommend a visit if you haven’t already been. If you want to hear more about our trips and hikes, make sure to subscribe below so that you never miss a post:
