Bridge of Orchy to Taynuilt

Scotways publish Scottish Hill Tracks, a hefty book listing hundreds of tracks and routes across Scotland, often following ancient routes through mountainous terrain. It’s a great way to find relatively easy to follow but challenging long walks.

Route 137 runs from Bridge of Orchy to Bridge of Awe, and from there a few more kms to Taynuilt, which has a railway station. I parked at Crianlarich and took the train to Bridge of Orchy, slightly confused as the train splits here, with half going to Mallaig and half going to Oban. Alighting at Bridge of Orchy, the conductor asked me if I had my midge net, then as the doors opened and felt the cooler air, said “ah it might not be so bad”.

A river flows past, trees on both banks and mountains on the horizon

The route followed the West Highland Way for the first 6km, passing several groups of cheeful Dutch and German hikers, as well as the few younug men in jeans and trainers struggling with massive rucksacks.

A gravel footpath, the West Highland Way, stretches ahead under a cloudy sky, through tussocky grass towards hills and mountains

At Victoria Bridge I turned to follow the Abhainn Shira into the Clashgour Estate, passing Glasgow Uni (I think) Climbing’s Clashgour hut, where I stopped for lunch. This used to be the school for the Glen.

A green directional sign on a black metal pole at the roadside. It reads Public Footpath to LOCH ETIVE by Glen Kinglass, and on top is a smaller square sign Erected by The Scottish Rights Of Way Society
A broad, shalow rive flows over its stony bed. Grassland stertches away, through blocks of plantation forestry, towards numerous distant hills rising into the grey clouds
A Green metal hut with white doors and shutters stands a little off the track, surrounded by bracken and near a few broadleaf trees. Hills rise up behind in the distance.

The path followed an easy farm track to a turn off for Clashgour Farm, and then followed the river itself, fording in several places where large boulders made good stepping stones. I arrived on the wrong side to cross the wobbly footbridge however.

the gravel road leads straight into and across the river. Alongside it are a row of large rocks. The road curves to the right after crossing the river, with the large hill Beinn Sudhe behind.
Crossing the river here is a wooden suspension footbridge. The piers on either side are brown with rust, and the rest of it is made of wood and looks very wobbly. I am sure it is perfectly safe.

The path climbed gradually up the glen until reaching Loch Dochard. A couple of rowing boats were moored in the loch, with a small plastic building by the road containing pony stalls that were unexpected given that it looked like a bus shelter from the outside.

The gravel track, grassy now in the middle, curves down a bit and away towards a waterbody. Mountains behind it reach up into the cloud.
A small dark green, boxy building made of corrugated metal with a corrugated plastic sheet for a window, sat right next to the track next to some trees
Inside, the ground has rough stone cobbles and is divided into three stalls by wooden partitions with curved edges. Grafitti has been written into the wood but you cannot make it out.

Pinned up inside was a poster for missing walker Neil Skinner, who was last seen camping on the loch in 2022.

Grassy, rocky ground surrounds Loch Dochard. A hill rises up behind. A peninsula sticks out into the water, with a rocky outcrop and a couple of scrawny trees on it, and next to it are moored a green and a white wooden rowboat.

Past Loch Dochard, the track began to descend into Glen Kinglass. The route was still fairly easy going, although there was a missing footbridge at one point but an easy ford over the River Kinglass. Not far after I passed a sign telling me there was a bridge, and then saw a second bridge down over a beautiful looking ravine and waterfalls, which probably would have been nicer to walk over, but never mind.

The track, now a narrow path, leads down through rocky and heathery ground into Glen Kinglass. Mountains either side.
A green directional sign in the heather reads Bridge

I stopped for a cup of tea at a lovely spot where the river flowed wide over a smooth rock outcrop upstream from Eas a’ Bhinnean. Covered in smidge, the midges weren’t too awful, although they got in my tea a bit. Extra protein.

The river flows over flat rocks and outcrops between the mountains

I reached a well-cobbled patch of path through bracken, and then another wobbly footbridge that appeared to be made of a tree and some chicken wire. I’m sure these bridges are very safe but I crossed the Eas a’ Bhinnean by the rocks below instead.

Looking across a very basic suspension footbridge. The bridge is a long, single beam of wood held up by cables from wooden uprights nailed together at either end. Sheep fencing strung along the side should stop you falling in. The ground is very rocky, and a water fall in the River Kinglass can be seen to the right of the picture. The stream the brdige crosses flows into this.

Once I’d reached the Kinglass Lodge, the tracks turned into well-made estate acces roads and broad bridges. Very easy walking, if a bit dull.

A small cluster of white-washed buildings and one larger stone house sit at the foot of Meal Garbh, a rocky and dramatic hill. Two patches of tall trees stand either side of teh buildings, and a road crosses the river on a substantial bridge to them
A broad gravel road stretches ahead down the valley, with mountains either side

The sun came out as the afternoon wore on, and where I could I walked along the much nicer old road up the glen rather than the new one. A pickup truck stopped, and the driver, an incredibly posh young man all in tweed with a ridiculous moustache, stopped to chat about how beautiful it was. I asked if he worked here, and he said no, his friend was letting him stay at the lodge.

Mountains in the distance are dapple with sunshine as the cloud parts to show some blue sky
Looking down the glen, over a sandbar in the river. The valley bottom is much more wooded now.

Finally I came to Narrachan, I had a feeling there was a bothy here but there was very little online about it, just a reference to it on a few old forum posts and a single youtube video, which is a contrast to most bothies that are all over instagram and tiktok. It looked pretty much the same as it does in that video, a rough building with a dirt floor, a table, a few benches and a fireplace.

A very old low stone building - a Black Hut - with a slightly more recent metal corrugated roof. It stands surrounded by trees and has a single window next to the door
Inside, a fireplace in the end wall opposite, with dirt floor and a few crude stone benches, and a single table. A plastic skylight, the tiny window, and the open door are the only sources of light.

I dithered about staying here, or camping outside; was someone going to come along in the night and wake me up? Was the bothy full of ticks? I went outside to get water and was immediately swarmed by midges and biting clegs. I chose the bothy.

A selfie of me, with my food on the table

It turned into a nice evening, but the flies made it difficult to spend any time outside. I used the footprint of my tent and slept on my sleeping rolls on that, but I’d forgotten my earplugs so every small leaf brushing against the tin roof woke me up, until I fashioned some earplugs out of tissue. Then I slept very well.

The next morning was a lovely and very easy 17km down to Taynuilt, first 5km along Glen Kinglass, then road walking above beautiful Loch Etive.

Dawn in the valley, golden light on the hills and long shadows
A broad, flat rive flows through trees towards a stony bar in the early morning light
Looking up Loch Etive, the flat calm loch surrounded by mountains that disappear into low cloud further up the loch
Looking down the loch, which zizags between grassy hills with patches of forest
The road curves to pass round the valley of River Noe. The steep-sided slopes of teh valley are hazy in the morning sun, and ahead on the track a sheep turns to look at me

Here a cyclist passed me, the first person (other than the car driver) I’d seen since leaving the West Highland Way yesterday. The road led down to Inverawe, and one final wobbly bridge to cross the River Awe. This time there was no wading to avoid it.

A narrow suspension footbridge crosses the river. In the woodland behind a white house, while stood in the river below is a flyfisherman.

I arrived at Taynuilt station with a good 40 minutes to go before the train back to Crianlarich, time to eat a sandwich and a nice cold fizzy water from the Post Office.

A really nice, long walk, with no real steep or challenging bits, and a very easy route to follow. For me I think the broad estate roads spoil it, because they make it feel less remote than it is? Once I got home, I spent my evening picking over 50 ticks off me, thanks to Narrachan Bothy. Great.

Map of route taken

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