Walk: Rowardennan to Inverarnan – bonnie east bank o’ Loch Lomond

📌 Loch Lomond, Stirling
★★★

25 miles after setting off from the centre of Milngavie, the West Highland Way runs along the full length of Loch Lomond‘s east bank. You can tackle this wild, intimate section of the trail as a day walk with the help of public transport from Tarbet: a ferry to the start of the hike, and a bus back at the end of the day. With the Inversnaid Hotel midway, a seasonal cafe at Cailness and The Drover’s Inn (Scotland’s oldest pub) at the end, there are plenty of places to break your journey. You could also check out Rob Roy’s Cave en route – this damp slit where the outlaw allegedly hid is unimpressive, but at least you can say you’ve been there (look out for the letters highlighting the entrance in white paint). As for the rest: don’t be fooled into expecting an easy lakeside stroll. Craggy knolls, thousands of tree roots and steep slopes make this an unforgiving zone for unsteady ankles, but spare a thought for through-hikers having to negotiate it all with heavy backpacks! The scenery is superb, though we were less impressed by the amount of discarded rubbish and old camping gear at various points on the route, making some of the banks rather less bonnie.

📷 Chronological photo guide

🌍 Location

📌 Start at SYHA Rowardennan jetty

🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NS 359992

🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.157288,-4.643996

🏁 Finish at Inverarnan

🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NN 318184

🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.327698,-4.721834

🚢 Seasonal ferry to Rowardennan (walk start) | 🚌 Bus from Inverarnan (walk finish)

🚗 Careful planning required! Car park at Tarbet pier, 🧭 NN 320045 / 🛰️ 56.203094,-4.709778 then take the ferry to Rowardennan for walk start (departs daily except in winter, but check sailing time & booking recommended). At the walk finish, buses return to Tarbet from Inverarnan (booking recommended)

📝 Key info

▶ 23 km / 14 mi | ▲ 480 m | ⌛ 6.5-7.5 hr | ⚠️ Linear route

Features: 💧 Loch Lomond; 🏚️ Rowchoish Bothy; 🌊 Arklet Falls; 🕸 Rob Roy’s Cave; 🏚️ Doune Bothy

⬤ Tough | Clear path throughout, but often very rough & rocky with a surprising amount of ascent & descent.

➡️ Northbound linear walk, following West Highland Way: start – Rowchoish Bothy – Inversnaid & Arklet Falls – Rob Roy’s Cave – Doune Bothy – east side of Cnap Mòr – Beinglas Farm – finish

Download file for GPS

🥾 On our last visit

Wildlife: The smell of wild goats which frequent this area, but none seen! Small birds, huge brown slugs, and a few midges in Tarbet.

Weather: Cloudy with some sunnier periods, temperature in high teens.

July 2018