One of the best things about a long drive is the chance to stop off somewhere totally random on the way to your destination. By doing this we’ve managed to explore lots of walks in areas we’ve never actually been on holiday to, and there are a few firm favourite places which I know are full of great choices for a quick leg stretch. Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park is probably my all time favourite place for a mid-journey stop off: we’ve previously had lovely walks around the Balmaha Millenium Trail on our way to Wester Ross, and Sron a’ Chlachain on our way to Assynt.
This time, we were stopping off on our way north to Lochaber. Keen to avoid a horrifically early start from home, I was looking for a scenic walk not too far off the route which we could complete in 45 minutes to an hour. Walkhighlands is my go-to for walks in Scotland, and sure enough it came up with plenty of options. In the end we chose the Crianlarich Mountain Lookout trail, which was right on our route and could be completed in a quick stroll of about 30 minutes.
There’s a good sized car park in Crianlarich with a box for donations. From here, a short walk down the road takes you into a pretty community woodland, where you almost immediately feel like you’ve been transported into the middle of nowhere (and while Crianlarich is pretty rural, I just mean somewhere that feels like it should be miles away from any house or road). A short climb up some steps takes you onto an open forest trail with good views of the surrounding hills, looping around over the course of a mile for a lovely easy stroll.
We really enjoyed our wander, which probably took us less than the estimated thirty minutes. It was very quiet despite being right next to the village of Crianlarich – we just saw one other dog walker. Generally the paths are clear and well surfaced, with the odd way marker here and there (but probably not well way marked enough to be able to rely solely on way markers). I managed to get away with doing it in trainers rather than walking boots too, which is always a win.
Dog friendly rating: 4/5. This is a good short dog walk, with a few sections along the road at the start and end to get to and from the car park. It’s stile free with the opportunity for dogs to have a splash in the river at the end. We also didn’t encounter any livestock, but like most walks in the highlands of Scotland, you should expect deer to pop up at any time.
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