West Highland Way

The West Highland Way was Scotland’s first Long Distance Route, opened on 6 October 1980, and a NatureScot manager calls it the most popular of the country’s 29 Great Trails. Its 96 mi run from the town of Milngavie to Fort William, from a country park to the lochs, open moorland and steep mountains of the Highlands, with nights spent in hotels, B&Bs, bunkhouses and campsites.

Tom Hunter’s idea, approved in 1974 and opened by Lord Mansfield

According to Wikipedia, the idea of an official trail came from Tom Hunter, from Glasgow, in part to protect the eastern shore of Loch Lomond; the geographer Fiona Rose surveyed the line at the start of the 1970s. Three dates follow:

1. 1974: the trail is approved for development.
2. 6 October 1980: official opening by Lord Mansfield.
3. October 2020: the manager counts more than 40,000 walkers completing the Way each year, a figure more than doubled by those who walk short sections.

The route is run by the West Highland Way Management Group, which brings together the councils of East Dunbartonshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland, with Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park as lead body. Wikipedia puts the number of people finishing the whole route at about 45,000 a year as of 2023, with a similar number walking individual sections, and estimates the path’s contribution to the local economy at 5.5 million pounds a year.

Loch Lomond’s goats, Rannoch Moor and the glen of the 1692 massacre

The Way is usually walked from south to north, because the southern sections are easier and prepare for the more demanding ground further north. The landscape changes with each section:

• Loch Lomond’s eastern shore, more remote north of Rowardennan: you may meet wild goats and glimpse golden eagles and ospreys, the RSPB reserve at Inversnaid gives advice, and the path crosses the Inversnaid waterfall on a footbridge where it drops into the loch.
• Between Inverarnan and Tyndrum, the Falls of Falloch, then the ruins of St Fillan’s Priory and a graveyard at Kirkton Farm, along an old military road.
• Rannoch Moor, described by the manager as one of the last great wildernesses of Europe, crossed between Inveroran and Kingshouse with Ba Bridge at its midpoint.
• Buachaille Etive Mor, one of Scotland’s best-known Munros, and Glen Coe, scene of the massacre of Clan MacDonald in 1692, both seen from the Devil’s Staircase.
• Ben Nevis, in view on the final section beyond the Lairigmor; Kinlochleven has the National Ice Climbing Centre.

Trains to Milngavie, CityLink coaches, and no car park at either end

Milngavie is well served by regular trains from Glasgow, and trains run back from Fort William to Glasgow, so the whole walk works without a car. Along the route:

• Railway stations at Ardlui, Crianlarich, Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy, on the West Highland Railway; Crianlarich, the halfway point, is bypassed to the west and reached by a link path.
• The CityLink bus from Glasgow to Fort William stops at Inverarnan, Crianlarich, Tyndrum, Bridge of Orchy and Glen Coe; from Fort William, the Ember electric bus runs to Edinburgh.
• No dedicated car park exists at either end: drivers leave their car in front of Milngavie station, free at the time of reading but sometimes full. Along Loch Lomond, parking is restricted to the public car parks at Balmaha and Rowardennan.

Cyclists and horse riders have the same access rights as walkers in Scotland, provided they exercise them with care, but the path was designed for walking: it passes under the A82 and the railway, and the stretch from Rowardennan to Inverarnan is rocky and narrow. A footbridge and a section of path just north of Inversnaid were replaced in 2023.

Eight sections, five to seven days, and the Notices page

The manager publishes eight sections but says they need not be treated as a day’s walk each: the length of your days depends on your fitness and what you want from the trip. What its pages say about pacing:

• On average the Way takes six to seven days; the suggested itineraries range from five to seven.
• The five-day plan ends its days at Balmaha, Inverarnan, Bridge of Orchy and Kinlochleven.
• Some walkers find the stretch at the northern end of Loch Lomond, from Inversnaid to Inverarnan, much slower and more difficult than expected.
• The route is waymarked along its length, yet walkers are expected to be able to read a map and use a compass.
• Diversions, works and known problems are posted in the Notices section of the official site: in 2026 it announced an alternative high route into Fort William (3 June) and the reopening of the Rowchoish Bothy (9 July).