In April last year we had a wonderful week in Lochaber, with a full week of sunshine (unprecedented) and staying in a lovely lodge close to Spean Bridge. Our location was close enough to the main road that we could cover quite a large area very easily, so in addition to some cracking days hiking in the West Highlands, we also managed a day trip north to explore Glen Affric and Plodda Falls, and another day driving south into Argyllshire. Principally we wanted to visit Castle Stalker, but the walk there from the car park was pretty short, and left us with plenty of time to explore a few other places in the area.
From Castle Stalker we then drove to Dunstaffnage Castle for a poke around, before finishing the day off with a walk to the fairy bridge at Glen Creran. Sam had found a short route on Walkhighlands, passing through woodland to a pretty bridge with a small waterfall behind it. The perfect end to the day before the drive back to our accommodation.
Altogether the route is about two and a half miles, although it ended up being shorter for us as we parked down the road from the car park in a large lay-by and completed it as an out and back rather than a circular. This was because while there were plenty of spaces in the car park, there was also very friendly but completely owner-less collie hanging around, most likely a local farm dog. After he’d tried to climb into our car for a cuddle, we decided that getting our reactive dog out of the car here would probably end badly, and so drove back down to the lay-by we’d passed earlier on our way down the road.
It’s an easy walk out through light woodland to the bridge, and on a beautiful sunny day it was a pleasant stroll indeed. However, the path was the kind which I can imagine gets pretty muddy fairly quickly, so it’s still one for boots if you’re visiting during or after a spell of wet weather. The fairy bridge itself is aptly named, looking like something from a story book, and would be the perfect place for a picnic. With its little waterfall and quiet setting, it’s an enchanting spot. Scotland really does baffle me with how many undiscovered gems there with absolutely no people hanging around, but then again, I suppose the amount of beautiful places means that there’s enough choice to stop everywhere getting mega busy.
After an enjoyable 10 minutes splashing with the dogs in the stream and taking photos, we retraced our steps back down through the woods towards the road. From this track it’s possible to take a quick detour to see Fas na Cloiche (the growth in the rock), a large pine tree growing out of a boulder. The tree is in the garden of a house, so make sure that you don’t trespass and just view from afar. We also met some rather bold red deer does on our way back down: they certainly didn’t see too bothered by us. See if you can spot them in the photo…
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. This is a lovely dog walk, very quiet, with no livestock (although you should look out for deer). Both of our dogs appreciated the chance to have a splash in the water under the bridge – no sign of any trolls, or fairies!
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