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West Highland Way: Drymen to Rowardennan
West Highland Way: Drymen to Rowardennan
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Our view
"Across Conic Hill into the Highlands"
Walk directions
At the edge of the Drymen village turn up into the Garadhban Forest (Garadh Ban is 'white garden'). Much of this has been clear-felled, with some of it regrowing as broadleaf scrub, so there are wide views across the foot of Loch Lomond.
At the forest edge a gate leads onto an open moor. Ahead is the bulk of Conic Hill, which the path will climb. Take care crossing the moorland: the waymarks can become buried in bracken in high summer, though the path itself is clear enough. It crosses two burns, the splendidly named Kilandan Blandan and the Burn of Mar, where dippers may be seen. The top of Conic Hill is some 700ft (200m) above, and a sharp climb it is too. The path skirts to right of the summit, or a smaller path leads up over it. The path descends first the right flank of the ridge and later the left. It's a long, tough descent. Once in the woods below, turn right to the car park at Balmaha.
Leave Balmaha along the road, keeping ahead in a lane then turning right, up steps, onto Craigie Fort. Its bare top offers fine views in several directions. The path drops to the car park at Milarrochy Bay, where it enters the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, which covers much of the Trossachs. The path runs alongside the road, then crosses a wooded hillock on its left.
At Cashel, where there is a camp site, the road is again joined for a short way before it is left for the oakwoods of Sallochy. These woods once provided timber for housing and also charcoal for iron smelting, carried out on a small scale at ‘bloomeries’ in the woods. The route passes through Sallochy camp site, then runs below a field centre at Ross to climb steeply into Ross Woods. Further meanderings end on the road just south of the Rowardennan Hotel. Here there is the pier for the loch steamer and water taxis. The large car park is the favourite start-point for the climb to Ben Lomond.
Landscape
- Plantation, much of it clear-felled with wide views; moorland and hill; wooded lakeside
Dog friendliness
- On leads on roadsides and if passing livestock around Conic Hill; otherwise good
Parking
- Street parking in Drymen; Garadhban Forest; Balmaha; Milarrochy Bay; Sallochy; Rowardennan pier
Toilets en route
- Balmaha (publicly available at Oak Tree Inn), Milarrochy Bay, Sallochy, Rowardennan
About the walk
The walk from the Lowlands into the Highlands is a tough one. Conic Hill is the highest point of the walk until you reach the boundaries of Glen Coe, 50 miles (80km) further on. But even alongside the southern part of Loch Lomond, never more than 210ft (93m) above sea level, the walk is still... surprisingly up-and-down, as your legs are liable to tell you at the end of the day. Some may break this stage at Balmaha, or at one of the lochside campsites – and perhaps introduce another break at Inversnaid in the following section. Conic Hill Although Conic Hill is roughly conical, the name probably comes from the Gaelic A’ Coinneach, meaning ‘moss’ or ‘bog’. It's at Conic Hill that you truly pass into the Highlands, for the hill is on a great geological fault that crosses Scotland from west coast to east. Standing on the summit, you see the hill's line continued as a series of islands across Loch Lomond. Descending, you may notice the lumpy conglomerate rock. The big, rounded cobblestones in it were washed out in violent flash floods from the eroding Caledonian mountain chain, the great range of which today's Highlands are the worn-down remains. Those cobbles make for awkward walking, and the long descent from Conic Hill is the first real leg-test of the walk. Bonnie banks Loch Lomond is the largest sheet of inland water in Britain. It is 23 miles (37km) long, has a maximum depth of over 600ft (180m), and covers 25 square miles (70 square km). Facts cannot convey its beauty: that has to be seen, and walking its banks is the best way to do it. The West Highland Way follows the loch for fully 20 miles (32km) of fine woodland and superb mountain scenes. The loch alters its character markedly as you travel north. This southern section is broad, relatively shallow, and has numerous islands, well seen from Conic Hill. The north end is narrower, more confined by mountains, and also suffers much more rainfall. The botanical interest is remarkable; some 25 per cent of all known British flowering plants and ferns can be found here. Little wonder that the loch has found such fame. It is a major tourist attraction, with peak summer weekends drawing perhaps 40,000 visitors. In 2002 it became part of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.
At the edge of the Drymen village turn up into the Garadhban Forest (Garadh Ban is 'white garden'). Much of this has been clear-felled, with some of it regrowing as broadleaf scrub, so there are wide views across the foot of Loch Lomond.
1 of 4
At the forest edge a gate leads onto an open moor. Ahead is the bulk of Conic Hill, which the path will climb. Take care crossing the moorland: the waymarks can become buried in bracken in high summer, though the path itself is clear enough. It crosses two burns, the splendidly named Kilandan Blandan and the Burn of Mar, where dippers may be seen. The top of Conic Hill is some 700ft (200m) above, and a sharp climb it is too. The path skirts to right of the summit, or a smaller path leads up over it. The path descends first the right flank of the ridge and later the left. It's a long, tough descent. Once in the woods below, turn right to the car park at Balmaha.
2 of 4
Leave Balmaha along the road, keeping ahead in a lane then turning right, up steps, onto Craigie Fort. Its bare top offers fine views in several directions. The path drops to the car park at Milarrochy Bay, where it enters the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, which covers much of the Trossachs. The path runs alongside the road, then crosses a wooded hillock on its left.
3 of 4
At Cashel, where there is a camp site, the road is again joined for a short way before it is left for the oakwoods of Sallochy. These woods once provided timber for housing and also charcoal for iron smelting, carried out on a small scale at ‘bloomeries’ in the woods. The route passes through Sallochy camp site, then runs below a field centre at Ross to climb steeply into Ross Woods. Further meanderings end on the road just south of the Rowardennan Hotel. Here there is the pier for the loch steamer and water taxis. The large car park is the favourite start-point for the climb to Ben Lomond.
Landscape
- Plantation, much of it clear-felled with wide views; moorland and hill; wooded lakeside
Dog friendliness
- On leads on roadsides and if passing livestock around Conic Hill; otherwise good
Parking
- Street parking in Drymen; Garadhban Forest; Balmaha; Milarrochy Bay; Sallochy; Rowardennan pier
Toilets en route
- Balmaha (publicly available at Oak Tree Inn), Milarrochy Bay, Sallochy, Rowardennan
About the walk
The walk from the Lowlands into the Highlands is a tough one. Conic Hill is the highest point of the walk until you reach the boundaries of Glen Coe, 50 miles (80km) further on. But even alongside the southern part of Loch Lomond, never more than 210ft (93m) above sea level, the walk is still... surprisingly up-and-down, as your legs are liable to tell you at the end of the day. Some may break this stage at Balmaha, or at one of the lochside campsites – and perhaps introduce another break at Inversnaid in the following section. Conic Hill Although Conic Hill is roughly conical, the name probably comes from the Gaelic A’ Coinneach, meaning ‘moss’ or ‘bog’. It's at Conic Hill that you truly pass into the Highlands, for the hill is on a great geological fault that crosses Scotland from west coast to east. Standing on the summit, you see the hill's line continued as a series of islands across Loch Lomond. Descending, you may notice the lumpy conglomerate rock. The big, rounded cobblestones in it were washed out in violent flash floods from the eroding Caledonian mountain chain, the great range of which today's Highlands are the worn-down remains. Those cobbles make for awkward walking, and the long descent from Conic Hill is the first real leg-test of the walk. Bonnie banks Loch Lomond is the largest sheet of inland water in Britain. It is 23 miles (37km) long, has a maximum depth of over 600ft (180m), and covers 25 square miles (70 square km). Facts cannot convey its beauty: that has to be seen, and walking its banks is the best way to do it. The West Highland Way follows the loch for fully 20 miles (32km) of fine woodland and superb mountain scenes. The loch alters its character markedly as you travel north. This southern section is broad, relatively shallow, and has numerous islands, well seen from Conic Hill. The north end is narrower, more confined by mountains, and also suffers much more rainfall. The botanical interest is remarkable; some 25 per cent of all known British flowering plants and ferns can be found here. Little wonder that the loch has found such fame. It is a major tourist attraction, with peak summer weekends drawing perhaps 40,000 visitors. In 2002 it became part of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.
