Dun na Cuaiche – The Watchtower above Inveraray Castle
About 3.1 miles on foot.
Behind Inveraray Castle rises a steep wooded hill with a small stone tower perched near its top.
The path to it climbs through the estate's old woods to a view over the castle, the white town and miles of Loch Fyne. It's about 5 km there and back, and steep enough to feel like a real hill.
- Time
- About two hours: the estate gives the way up as 2.5 km and steep, and you come down the same way, so about 5 km in all, to a hill of 248 m. A walk, steep.
- The path
- A steep estate path with field gates, narrower and stonier towards the top.
- Where to start
- Inveraray Castle car park: £4, by card at the machine or with the JustPark app.
- Set off
- From November to January, set off by 1pm to be down in daylight.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 1pm. Keep it for a clear day: the view is the point.
- Dogs
- On a lead at all times on the estate.
- Children
- A steep climb, and the tower stands on the edge of a steep face: keep children close at the top.
- Toilets
- At the castle while it is open; otherwise the public toilets in Inveraray.
- Before you set out
- The estate may close a walk for forestry, farming or deer management. The castle and gardens are open Thursday to Monday until 26 October 2026, then shut for the winter.
The walk
Park at the Inveraray Castle car park, off the A83 on the north side of the town, where the charge is £4, paid by card at the machine or with the JustPark app. The estate says the car park is there for all visitors and that its paths are generally open to walkers every day of the year. It can close a walk for forestry, farming or deer management, so heed any notice at the start. Dun na Cuaiche is the steep wooded hill behind the castle, 248 metres high, with a stone watchtower near the top that you can pick out from the town. The estate gives the way up as 2.5 km and steep, marked with blue arrows.
You come back the same way, so allow about two hours for the 5 km. The path crosses the River Aray on an 18th-century stone bridge and climbs through old limes and a collection of conifers, past a ruined lime kiln, and it's narrower and stonier towards the top. The tower was built in 1748 to a design by Roger Morris and William Adam, the architects of the castle, as an eye-catcher and nothing more. It was set just short of the summit, on the edge of the steep face, so that it stands out against the sky from below. From it you look down on the castle, the white town on its point and a long reach of Loch Fyne.
The ground falls away sharply in front of the tower, so keep children close. Dogs must be on a lead. The castle and its gardens are open Thursday to Monday until 26 October 2026, with toilets there, and then shut for the winter, when the nearest toilets are the public ones in Inveraray. From November to January set off by 1pm.
If it rains
The upper path is steep and stony and slippery when wet, and in low cloud Loch Fyne disappears. Keep the tower for a clear day; in rain, the town's jail and its shops are a few minutes away.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Kabn in Cairndow, 4 miles away. Sleeps 2; next free Tue 17 Nov to Thu 19 Nov.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Heike Kersten via Google