Divach Falls – On Foot to a 100-Foot Fall in the Oaks

The walk

This is the Highland Council's walk from Drumnadrochit to Divach Falls, a round of 8 km, about 5 miles, from the village and back in about three hours. It goes on pavements, woodland paths, a minor road that climbs for about a mile, and an earth path through oaks. The walk's own leaflet has a map of it.

The way out runs along the foot of Craigmonie, the wooded crag above the village, named after Monie, a Norse prince of the 11th century. The story goes that he hid on the crag after the Norsemen lost a battle with the people of the glen, then fled up Glen Urquhart and was killed at Corrimony. Look out for red squirrels in these old woods.

The path leads towards the site of Balmacaan House, once the seat of the Earls of Seafield's Glen Urquhart estate, let in the 1880s to a New York millionaire as his summer house. From there the road runs beside the River Coiltie, then crosses it and climbs.

From the falls car park an earth path runs down through ancient oaks, full of birdsong in spring, to a viewing platform. The water drops 100 feet down a rock face into the Divach Burn. The falls were among the first sights that brought tourists here: they landed from boats at Temple Pier and were taken up to see them.

Home is through Lewiston, a village laid out in 1769 to give the estate's people better homes, its houses set along the river so that each had water close by.

In October 2026 the road to the falls car park was closed to vehicles after a landslide, and Forestry and Land Scotland's notice said walkers could still reach the falls from the village. Check the notice before going, and follow the safety signs.

The falls make a good place for a picnic, so carry a flask. Back in the village, Fiddler's on the green serves lunch: book in summer, and check its hours in winter. The public toilets in the village centre stay open all year; there are none at the falls.