Glenan Wood – A Walk to the Lost Village by Loch Fyne

The walk

The walk is a loop of about 2.6 miles (4.2 km) from the edge of Glenan Wood by the Portavadie ferry road: along the shore of Loch Fyne to Glenan Bay, up to the lost village and back through the trees. Allow about two hours; the loop to the bay alone takes an hour to an hour and a half. The paths are earth, rocky in short stretches along the shore and often wet and boggy, so wear boots or wellies.

The wood is Atlantic oakwood, where trees have probably grown since the last Ice Age, and parts of it appear on maps of 1750 and 1860. Look at the bark of the old oaks and the boulders beneath them, where lichens, mosses and ferns grow. Forestry and Land Scotland agreed in 2019 to sell the wood to the Friends of Glenan Wood, who look after it now.

The shore path comes to Glenan Bay. The cottage by the bay is a private home; on the hillside above it are ruins that may have been a chapel.

From the bay a path climbs on to the old village of Glenan, its houses grouped tightly on a knoll over the West Glenan Burn. Glenan is said to appear in records as early as 1309. A map of Argyll marks the township in 1801, and the first Ordnance Survey map, of 1870, shows four of its buildings still roofed and two already open to the sky. Trees now rise from inside the old houses, their stones covered in moss and lichen. In summer the bracken all but hides the ruins; from winter into spring, with last year's bracken lying flat, they stand clear.

The forest path, higher on the slope, brings you back through the oaks. The ferry's waiting area, a short walk down the road from the start, has toilets, accessible ones included; CalMac gives no hours for it, so check on the day. Lunch comes after, at the Marina Restaurant and Bar in Portavadie.

Afterwards

1. 

   The Marina Restaurant and Bar, Portavadie

   Lunch

   Portavadie is just along the road from the car park. The Marina Restaurant and Bar looks out over the boats in the marina through walls of glass. Lunch might be the twice-baked smoked haddock and cheddar soufflé, the potato gnocchi or roast monkfish, with sticky toffee pudding to finish, and there are coffees and hot chocolate for anyone who only wants to warm up.

   More info