📌 Kinlochleven, Highland
★★★★
The industrial settlement of Kinlochleven lies just 3 miles from Glencoe as the crow flies, and not much further from the Ben Nevis trailhead, but its position on an old loop of road now bypassed by the main road grants it relative peace by local standards. Most tourists are missing out on one of the most wonderful waterfalls in the West Highlands; the silver plume of the Grey Mare’s Tail (not to be confused with the Grey Mare’s Tail in Moffat Dale, southern Scotland) drops 40 feet into a craggy abyss, with all the drama and scale of an Alpine gorge. It’s overlooked by the country’s only via ferrata route (booking required), but ordinary walkers can still get a decent view from about 100 metres away. At lowish water levels, the area around the plunge pool can also be reached with care and a little scrambling.
🌍 Location
📌 Access from Wades Road, north side of Kinlochleven
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NN 188625
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.719048,-4.963362
🚌 Bus to Kinlochleven
🚗 Car park at 🧭 NN 188623 / 🛰️ 56.716722,-4.962710
📝 Key info
⌚ Always viewable
🎫 Free
💬 From the car park it’s a 10-min walk (each way) to the foot of the gorge on a good, signposted path with some ascent / descent (⬤ Easy). There is a reasonable view of the falls from here. If water levels are low enough, you can carefully clamber upstream using boulders / planks / metal chains for a closer view – grippy footwear required, with some scrambling (⬤ Tough).
