Loch Achray – A Short Climb to a View over the Trossachs
About 0.6 miles on foot.
Loch Achray is the small loch at the centre of the Trossachs, ringed by oak and birch woods that turn gold in autumn, with Ben A'an and Ben Venue standing over it.
You don't have to climb either hill for a good look at it. Forestry and Land Scotland's Creag Noran Viewpoint Trail is a short, rough path up through the heather to a view over the water.
- Time
- About half an hour with time at the viewpoint: the Creag Noran Viewpoint Trail is 0.9 km (0.6 miles), and Forestry and Land Scotland allows a quarter of an hour.
- The path
- An uneven gravel path with rough, rocky stretches, muddy patches and long slopes, some of them steep.
- Where to start
- Forestry and Land Scotland's Ben Venue car park on the A821, 200 metres south of the turning for Loch Katrine; FK17 8HZ is the nearest postcode. £2 for up to an hour, £5 for the day; coins, card or RingGo; Blue Badge holders free. It gets busy early.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. The woods round the loch are at their best in late October and early November.
- Children
- Short, with some steep and rocky bits.
- Toilets
- None at the car park. The nearest are at Trossachs Pier, open 9am to 5pm.
- Before you set out
- The Three Lochs Forest Drive across the loch is closed to cars until spring.
The walk
Park at Forestry and Land Scotland's Ben Venue car park on the A821, 200 metres south of the turning for Loch Katrine. FK17 8HZ is the nearest postcode. It costs £2 for up to an hour, which is plenty for this walk, or £5 for the day, paid by coins, card or RingGo, and Blue Badge holders park free. There are no toilets here.
The nearest are at Trossachs Pier, just along the road, and they're open from 9am to 5pm. The Creag Noran Viewpoint Trail is 0.9 km, about half a mile, and Forestry and Land Scotland allows a quarter of an hour for it. It's short but it isn't smooth: an uneven gravel path with rough, rocky stretches, muddy patches and long slopes, some of them steep. It climbs through heather and birch to a view over Loch Achray and the wooded hills around it, which is the Trossachs in one look without a mountain to climb.
Give it half an hour and stand a while at the top. The Steamship Café at Trossachs Pier, about a kilometre away, is open every day from 9am to 5pm for coffee afterwards. A second short walk, the Achray Trail, starts on the Three Lochs Forest Drive across the loch, but the drive is closed to cars until spring.
If it rains
Short enough to do between showers, but the path is rocky and slippery when wet, and low cloud takes the view.
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 Monachyle Mhor, 8 miles away.
Then Suie Hunting Lodge, 13 miles away.
Where to eat
Steamship Café, a café in Callander.
For further reading, before you go.