📌 Rannoch Moor, Perth & Kinross
★★
However you look at it, Rannoch Station is a long way from anywhere. By tarmac, it’s 16 miles from the nearest village (Kinloch Rannoch), and 41 miles from the nearest town (Pitlochry), almost entirely on single track roads. This lonely halt is served by just a handful of trains daily on the West Highland Line between Glasgow and Fort William, providing a vital service to the few local residents, to walkers hoping to scale the tough nearby summits, and to a growing number of other tourists – the station’s remoteness affords it minor celebrity status. The narrow platform now sports the Rannoch Station Tearoom – serving tasty-looking cakes – and there’s even a Restaurant with Rooms nearby. Back in the station, a small exhibition area (partly housed in an old signal box) presents the flora and fauna, history and dangers of the region. Dangers? To the west lies Rannoch Moor: one of Europe’s largest blanket bogs, lashed by one of Europe’s wettest climates. There are no buildings in the interior, and no roads; even the railway line merely floats on a “mattress” of rushes and roots. An ancient drovers’ track does traverse the bog, eventually reaching the Kings House Hotel at the entrance to Glen Coe. Even following this is a serious proposition, with several lives having been lost during the 12 mile journey on foot. For those interested in something more leisurely, a 15-min walk (each way) west along the beginning of the track takes you to the peaceful shores of Loch Laidon, backed by the distant western peaks of the Black Mount. Care should still be taken during the winter months or in bad weather.
🌍 Location
📌 Access by the West Highland railway line, or at the end of the B846 15 mi west of Kinloch Rannoch
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NN 422578
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.685535,-4.577184
🚆 Rannoch
🚗 Car park
📝 Key info
⌚ Always open – trains stop a few times daily
🎫 Free
