A Wet Day in Fort William and Glencoe – Crystals and Jacobites
A day by car, from Fort William and back.
The route
Rain is part of any trip to Lochaber, and when the cloud sits down on the hills there's no sense in chasing views that aren't there.
This is a day from Fort William for exactly that weather. It keeps you warm and mostly dry, and saves its few minutes outdoors for what rain makes better: burns, or streams, that come down the mountainsides white, and Glencoe with the cloud low on its walls. In between come crystals and Jacobites, a fire and a hot lunch, and the glen's own story told under a roof.
The day
Lochaber
A day from Fort William down Loch Linnhe to Glencoe and back, ending with the glen's own story. Most of it is spent indoors, with a long lunch by a fire at the halfway point. The time out in the rain is short: ten minutes on a canal towpath in the morning, and Glencoe seen from the car in the afternoon.
1 hr 57 min at the wheelAbout 50 miles
Neptune's Staircase
Leave Fort William about half past nine. It's 10 minutes' drive north on the A82 and left onto the A830, over the canal, to the free car park at Banavie Locks. Here the engineer Thomas Telford's eight locks lift the Caledonian Canal 19 metres up the hillside, the longest staircase lock in Scotland by Scottish Canals' own account. It's outdoors but short, ten minutes on the towpath in a waterproof, and the flight is just as striking under cloud. The chambers are deep and beside the path, so hold small hands.
5 min by car
Treasures of the Earth
Drive 5 minutes west on the A830 to Corpach and Treasures of the Earth, the big yellow building just past the Co-op, with free parking. Crystals and fossils are laid out in cave and mine scenes: amethyst geodes over seven feet tall, trilobites, insects in amber and a cave that glows under ultraviolet light. It opens at 10am and takes about an hour. From October to March it closes at 4pm and its days can vary, so check before going. Tickets are from about £10 an adult and £7 a child.
14 min by car
West Highland Museum
It's 14 minutes' drive back into Fort William, to Viewforth car park and the free West Highland Museum on Cameron Square. Inside are Jacobite relics, a portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie that only appears in a curved mirror, and the story of the commandos who trained at Achnacarry. It opens 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday: check before going. Be away by noon. In heavy rain, look at Traffic Scotland first: the A82 is the only road from Fort William to Glencoe. If the road is shut, the Highland Cinema across the square serves lunch from 12.
45 min by car
Loch Achtriochtan
An attraction
Drive 45 minutes south on the A82 to Loch Achtriochtan, with lunch on the way at the Clachaig Inn. Its Boots Bar has a real fire but is for over-18s; children are welcome in the Bidean Lounge. Then it's on up the glen to the loch's car park. The loch is a view from the car, and rain is the reason to come: cloud on the tops and white streams pouring off the slopes. Stay by the car, as the road is close, and leave with an hour of daylight to spare.
7 min by car
Glencoe Visitor Centre
An attraction
It's 7 minutes' drive back down the glen to the National Trust for Scotland's visitor centre, which you passed on the way in. It tells the glen's story under a roof: in February 1692 government soldiers billeted with the MacDonalds killed around thirty of them. A rebuilt turf house stands outside, a few minutes from the door on a gravel path. Give it an hour, then it's 35 minutes' drive home to Fort William. Check it's open before going.
If the rain stops
If it dries up while you're still in Fort William, go up Glen Nevis, where the river is at its fullest just after rain. The Lower Falls are 12 minutes' drive from the museum. From the council's car park, which has toilets, a short path leads to where the River Nevis drops through bare rock. The rock has no fence, so hold small hands. Half an hour is enough, and it's 10 minutes back to town. Leave Steall Falls and the gorge path at the head of the glen for a dry day: that path is rocky, with steep drops.
Worth a detour
- The Nevis Range gondola
The gondola at Nevis Range climbs to a top station at 650 metres, about a quarter of an hour each way. It runs only when the weather allows and can close without notice, and in low cloud there is nothing to see from the top. So it's for a wet day that clears, never one that doesn't: look at its own mountain report before you drive out. The base station is 14 minutes' drive north of Fort William, off the A82, so going there and back adds about half an hour at the wheel.
- Glenfinnan
Glenfinnan is 19 minutes' drive on from Treasures of the Earth along the A830, at the head of Loch Shiel. The National Trust for Scotland's visitor centre there is free to go in, with an exhibition under a roof and the monument a level path away; its hours shorten outside summer, so check the Trust's page before going. The viaduct is a walk in the open, better kept for a dry day. It's 35 minutes back to Fort William, so the detour adds about 40 minutes at the wheel and takes the museum's place in the morning.
- The Highland Cinema
The Highland Cinema is on Cameron Square in Fort William, a few steps from the West Highland Museum. It shows films from mid-morning every day: see what's on and book a seat on its own site. Its restaurant and bar is open from 11am to 10pm, with lunch and dinner from 12 and last food orders at 8pm, and a wood-burning stove lit in colder weather. It's the roof for the afternoon if the road to Glencoe is shut, and for the evening once you're home.
- The Glencoe Waterfall
About two and a half miles further up the glen, 3 minutes' drive past Loch Achtriochtan, the Allt Lairig Eilde drops about 20 metres to meet the River Coe right beside the A82. Many websites call this fall the Meeting of Three Waters, though the place the Ordnance Survey gives that name is lower down the river, out of sight of the road. It is at its loudest after rain. Keep your lights on, and pull in only at a lay-by on your own side of the road that has room. Never stop on the carriageway or the verge, and never cross the road on foot. If there is no space, look as you pass and drive on. Keep well back from the water. Going there and back from the loch adds about 6 minutes at the wheel.
Make it a weekend
More days out in Lochaber.
Photographs by David Stransky and Juan Sin miedo via Google