📌 Inversnaid, Stirling
★★★
🛠️ Second half (descent section) of route may now be impassable – reports welcome
North of Rowardennan, progress along the remaining 15 miles or so of Loch Lomond’s eastern shore is on foot via a rough section of the West Highland Way… except at Inversnaid, where an unlikely thread of tarmac snakes its way down to the bonnie banks from high ground to the east. It’s a windy half hour’s drive on single track road from Aberfoyle to get here (or take the ferry), but this short and steep circuit above Inversnaid is a worthwhile way to explore this delightfully quiet area: wild goats outnumbered people on our visit. There are good views of the lower Arklet Falls from the loch side at the very start. Higher up, the route passes further cascades before breaking clear of the trees to reveal views across Loch Lomond to the Arrochar Alps. A less interesting and slightly boggy stretch is next (well, no walk’s perfect) before passing an abandoned 18th century village on the return leg, perhaps with lunch afterwards at the Inversnaid Hotel.
📷 Chronological photo guide
🌍 Location
📌 Start / finish at minor road end, Inversnaid
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NN 337089
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.243258,-4.685085
🚢 Ferry to Inversnaid from various points on Loch Lomond
🚗 Car park
📝 Key info
▶ 2 km / 1 mi | ▲ 140 m | ⌛ 1 hr
Features: 💧 Loch Lomond ★★★★; 🌊 Arklet Falls; 🏚️ Clach Buidhe abandoned village
⬤ Moderate | Clear but steep, fairly rough paths. Mostly firm underfoot but brief boggy sections higher up.
Download file for GPS➡️ Clockwise circuit: start – Arklet Falls seen from the shoreline – Loch Lomond – cross Arklet Water on WHW then keep left at path junctions – sharp right turn at path junction just short of Rob Roy car park – Clach Buidhe – rejoin outward route by Arklet Water – start. Route mostly signposted
🥾 On our last visit
Wildlife: Several wild goats, forest birds.
Weather: Changeable with sunshine and brief showers. Blustery above the tree line, about 10°C.
April 2016
Having accidentally walked some of this route yesterday from the Rob Roy car park, I can say that in the summer the bracken in waist-shoulder high and the ticks are numerous. Still, particularly at the Viewpoint/Ruins signpost at Clach Buidhe, the views are glorious.
If you cut left just after the deer gate from the Rob Roy carpark, there is a much-disuses Millenium Forest path you may enjoy checking out. It apparently leads to a viewpoint? I stumbled across it because someone had placed a geocache on it in 2007, and while the path is basically gone back to nature, the cache remains.
Thanks for the tips / suggestion Eiree! I’ll definitely have a look next time I’m up that way.