The West Highland Way

A staggering 50,000 people, or possibly 50,000 staggering people, make their way along parts of the West Highland Way each year.

Which isn’t suprising, considering it runs through some of Scotland’s most beautiful countryside.

The West Highland Way is a 95-mile trek from Milngavie, just to the north of Glasgow, to Fort William, in the shadow of Ben Nevis.

It passes along the east side of Loch Lomond, and heads via Crianlarich, Bridge of Orchy, and Kinlochleven to its end.

The route combines old drove roads along which Highlanders herded their cattle and sheep to market in the lowlands, military roads built by government troops to help control the Jacobite Clans, and the old coaching roads and disused railway lines which formed essential lines of communication in the more recent past.

Points of interest include the wildlife, which can include majestic red deer, soaring golden eagles and even feral goats. Less welcome is the voracious Scottish midge.

There are a number of published guides to walking the Way, and there is plenty of accommodation of all standards along the route – not to mention some traditional, Scottish hostelries in which to relax with a dram after a long day’s hike.

The West Highland is maintained by Highland Council and by Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.