"The Queen's Drive, the Duke's ornamental well and the town of Inveraray."
Walk directions
Follow the seafront past the Argyll Hotel and bear left towards Inveraray Castle. At the first junction, turn right past a football pitch and then the castle. Take the estate road on the left to the stone-arched Garden Bridge.
Just before the bridge, take a track down left. It follows the river upstream around a bend, then through woods near the river. Cross a road, and keep ahead on a field track, still to the left of the river. Just before a white house, cross the river bridge on the right.Â
Turn left on a tarred estate road, past a white dovecote and Carloonan Farm to continue on the track. After 300yds (274m) this reaches Carloonan Bridge. Turn left across this, and left again on a track alongside the river. Just before the edge of the trees, and with the white house just ahead, turn right to reach the A819.
Cross to the old road beyond and turn right, then left on an old track with a stream on its left. At a well-used track, turn left across the stream. Where a left fork leads back to the A819, turn right instead, on a wide, gently climbing forest road. This is the Queen’s Drive, used by Queen Victoria on a visit to a waterfall. Ignore two smaller tracks forking off left.
Approaching the top of the road, open ground on the left gives views to the Arrochar Hills, including the distinctive Cobbler. Ignore two side tracks up right, and follow the main track to a stone bridge. Upstream is the waterfall that Queen Victoria visited, visible in winter but now diminished by a reservoir upstream. The main track continues to the right of a fish pond, then climbs to a junction. As the main track bends left, keep ahead on a smaller track under tall Douglas firs. It heads down into a narrow valley.
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At the foot of the glen, a track on the left passes a waterworks and runs along the foot of the wood. After 0.5 miles (800m), bear left, and where the track turns up into a quarry, keep ahead on a fainter one to the classical wellhead built by William Adam in 1747.Â
Continue downhill, then turn right along the foot of the wood right back to the previous junction. A turnstile gate on the left leads across fields and across a track into Newtown. At the foot of the street is the Notice Tree. Turn left on a dirt track and go through a car park. The Bell Tower is on the left; opposite, a gap leads towards Inveraray Jail. Turn left along the main street to the pier.
The original Iveraray stood alongside the present-day castle and had its own castle, church and school. It may have been the rowdy customers of its 43 taverns that persuaded the Duke of Argyll to demolish the place entirely, between 1744 and 1776. Scotland's oldest new town The replacement... Inveraray, curved around its bay, is one of the oldest 'new towns' in the world: 20 years older than Edinburgh's New Town. It's handsome main street is dominated by the parish church, one of the last buildings to go up in 1802. It was divided by an internal wall to separate English- and Gaelic-speaking congregations, though the Gaelic half is now the church hall. In a town where almost every building deserves a closer look, the white arches of the Argyll Hotel are notable. It's been an inn since 1755, and got a bad review from Robert Burns himself in 1787. One of its arches is now a passageway for the A819. The Bell Tower was built in Georgian style as a memorial for World War I. It's open to the public and gives a fine view over the town. Its bells are the second heaviest in the world (after Wells Cathedral). Go straight to jail The original jail and courthouse were in what is now the Tourist Information Centre. However the local criminals were too numerous and resourceful, and it was replaced in 1820 with the larger and more secure Inverary Jail opposite the parish church, which is now the town's most popular tourist attraction. The town also has a maritime museum, in the metal sailing ship Arctic Penguin that you'll find at the pier at the start of the walk. Vital spark As part of the maritime museum, an old Clyde puffer in Inveraray harbour has been renamed the Vital Spark – a name familiar from three television series between 1959 and 1995. The Clyde puffer Vital Spark and her hardy skipper Para Handy feature in over 100 stories of life on the waterways of Argyll in the years around World War I. Today they are still popular from Loch Fyne to 'Gleska' and beyond for their pawky Scots humour and insights into a lost way of life. Their author, Neil Munro, was born and brought up in Inveraray, the illegitimate son of a milkmaid. His house was Crombie's Land, on the seafront immediately south of Inveraray Jail. Â
This is a county that’s all about awe-inspiring landscapes and unique island cultures. Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney put the area on the map when he wrote Mull of Kintyre, recorded in 1977 with the local pipe band backing his group.
"The Queen's Drive, the Duke's ornamental well and the town of Inveraray."
Walk details
3hrs
Difficulty:
Easy
Gradient:
Gentle
Distance:
6.75 miles (10.9kms)
Ascent:
500ft (152m)
Walk directions
Follow the seafront past the Argyll Hotel and bear left towards Inveraray Castle. At the first junction, turn right past a football pitch and then the castle. Take the estate road on the left to the stone-arched Garden Bridge.
1 of 7
Just before the bridge, take a track down left. It follows the river upstream around a bend, then through woods near the river. Cross a road, and keep ahead on a field track, still to the left of the river. Just before a white house, cross the river bridge on the right.Â
2 of 7
Turn left on a tarred estate road, past a white dovecote and Carloonan Farm to continue on the track. After 300yds (274m) this reaches Carloonan Bridge. Turn left across this, and left again on a track alongside the river. Just before the edge of the trees, and with the white house just ahead, turn right to reach the A819.
3 of 7
Cross to the old road beyond and turn right, then left on an old track with a stream on its left. At a well-used track, turn left across the stream. Where a left fork leads back to the A819, turn right instead, on a wide, gently climbing forest road. This is the Queen’s Drive, used by Queen Victoria on a visit to a waterfall. Ignore two smaller tracks forking off left.
4 of 7
Approaching the top of the road, open ground on the left gives views to the Arrochar Hills, including the distinctive Cobbler. Ignore two side tracks up right, and follow the main track to a stone bridge. Upstream is the waterfall that Queen Victoria visited, visible in winter but now diminished by a reservoir upstream. The main track continues to the right of a fish pond, then climbs to a junction. As the main track bends left, keep ahead on a smaller track under tall Douglas firs. It heads down into a narrow valley.
Â
5 of 7
At the foot of the glen, a track on the left passes a waterworks and runs along the foot of the wood. After 0.5 miles (800m), bear left, and where the track turns up into a quarry, keep ahead on a fainter one to the classical wellhead built by William Adam in 1747.Â
6 of 7
Continue downhill, then turn right along the foot of the wood right back to the previous junction. A turnstile gate on the left leads across fields and across a track into Newtown. At the foot of the street is the Notice Tree. Turn left on a dirt track and go through a car park. The Bell Tower is on the left; opposite, a gap leads towards Inveraray Jail. Turn left along the main street to the pier.
The original Iveraray stood alongside the present-day castle and had its own castle, church and school. It may have been the rowdy customers of its 43 taverns that persuaded the Duke of Argyll to demolish the place entirely, between 1744 and 1776. Scotland's oldest new town The replacement... Inveraray, curved around its bay, is one of the oldest 'new towns' in the world: 20 years older than Edinburgh's New Town. It's handsome main street is dominated by the parish church, one of the last buildings to go up in 1802. It was divided by an internal wall to separate English- and Gaelic-speaking congregations, though the Gaelic half is now the church hall. In a town where almost every building deserves a closer look, the white arches of the Argyll Hotel are notable. It's been an inn since 1755, and got a bad review from Robert Burns himself in 1787. One of its arches is now a passageway for the A819. The Bell Tower was built in Georgian style as a memorial for World War I. It's open to the public and gives a fine view over the town. Its bells are the second heaviest in the world (after Wells Cathedral). Go straight to jail The original jail and courthouse were in what is now the Tourist Information Centre. However the local criminals were too numerous and resourceful, and it was replaced in 1820 with the larger and more secure Inverary Jail opposite the parish church, which is now the town's most popular tourist attraction. The town also has a maritime museum, in the metal sailing ship Arctic Penguin that you'll find at the pier at the start of the walk. Vital spark As part of the maritime museum, an old Clyde puffer in Inveraray harbour has been renamed the Vital Spark – a name familiar from three television series between 1959 and 1995. The Clyde puffer Vital Spark and her hardy skipper Para Handy feature in over 100 stories of life on the waterways of Argyll in the years around World War I. Today they are still popular from Loch Fyne to 'Gleska' and beyond for their pawky Scots humour and insights into a lost way of life. Their author, Neil Munro, was born and brought up in Inveraray, the illegitimate son of a milkmaid. His house was Crombie's Land, on the seafront immediately south of Inveraray Jail. Â
This is a county that’s all about awe-inspiring landscapes and unique island cultures. Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney put the area on the map when he wrote Mull of Kintyre, recorded in 1977 with the local pipe band backing his group.
