Glen Ogle – A Railway Viaduct Above Loch Earn
6 miles · 3 to 4 hours · a loop
dogs welcome
Glen Ogle is the steep, rocky pass between Loch Earn and Glen Dochart, and the old Callander and Oban Railway ran high along its side to a curving stone viaduct.
The trail climbs onto the old line, crosses the viaduct and comes back down the glen beside the burn, with Loch Earn ahead of you. Then it's a few minutes down the road to lunch at Mhor 84.
Where it starts
Start at the large car park off the A85 in Lochearnhead, by the Scout Station, where the trail starts and ends.
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Before you go
On the path
Three to four hours: the Glen Ogle Trail, a circuit of about 10 km, or just over 6 miles, from Lochearnhead. A steep, rough woodland path up to the old railway, then a firm, level cycle track; the way back down the glen is a rougher path, boggy in places, with a crossing of the A85 and grassy paths through fields. Boots. A long walk for young children; the old railway itself is level and easy.
Good to know
All year. About 10am, for lunch at Mhor 84 after. Dogs under close control: there are sheep in the fields on the way back. Toilets none on the trail; Mhor 84, 7 minutes' drive south, has its own. In snow and ice the old railway can be icy.
The walk
Glen Ogle climbs north from Lochearnhead towards Killin, so steep and rocky that John Anderson, the secretary of the Callander and Oban Railway, called it the Khyber Pass of Scotland. A rock fall closed the line here in September 1965, a few weeks before it was due to shut anyway, and the trackbed is now a trail for walkers and cyclists. The circuit starts from the large car park off the A85 in the village, by the Scout Station, with a steep climb through the woods to the old line.
Then it's a firm, easy surface along the hillside, past boulders fallen from the crags, to the viaduct: twelve stone arches on a curve across the slope, built between 1866 and 1870. The way back down the glen by the Ogle Burn is rougher and boggy, with the finest view of the viaduct from below, then crosses the A85, where the traffic is fast, and comes home through sheep fields. In the lambing season, when parts of the fields can be closed, come back along the railway instead.
The whole circuit is about 10 km, or just over 6 miles: allow three to four hours.
If it rains
In heavy rain the path back down the glen turns to mud, so walk out along the old railway to the viaduct and back the same way: it's firm underfoot all the way. Mhor 84 is all under one roof.
Afterwards
7 min by car
Mhor 84
Lunch
It's 7 minutes' drive south on the A84 to Mhor 84 at Kingshouse, a roadside motel, café and bar, sister to Monachyle Mhor and Mhor Bread. It serves food all day, from 8am to 9pm, and lunch, from noon to 4pm, runs to soups with homemade bread, burgers, mussels and salads, with cakes from Mhor Bread. Children are welcome, with high chairs, and so are dogs.
After the walk
Coffee and cake, something to do with the rest of the day, and dinner, nearest the end of the walk first.
Straight after
10 min by roadA caféThe Broch CafeA family café on Strathyre's Main Street and the cycle route, with Italian coffee and fresh food, closed on Wednesdays.
22 min by roadA caféBen Ledi Coffee CompanyA family coffee shop on Callander's Main Street, with Scottish-roasted coffee, home baking and a secret garden.
22 min by roadA caféMhor BreadThe bakery and tearoom on Callander's Main Street, owned by the Monachyle Mhor family, with hand-made sourdough and giant meringues.With the rest of the day
6 min by roadThings to doLoch EarnA seven-mile loch on the eastern edge of the national park, between Lochearnhead and St Fillans, known for watersports and trout.
10 min by roadThings to doLoch Voil and Loch DoineTwo lochs in the Braes of Balquhidder, Rob Roy's country, with his grave at the kirk at the foot of Loch Voil.
12 min by roadThings to doFalls of DochartRapids pouring under the old bridge at Killin, with the MacNab chiefs' burial island in the river.
12 min by roadThings to doLoch LubnaigA long, quiet loch below Ben Ledi between Callander and Strathyre, with the Rob Roy Way along its shore.
13 min by roadThings to doBreadalbaneYou will find the picturesque area of Breadalbane in the north east corner of the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park.
14 min by roadThings to doKillenRural and remote, this tiny hamlet can be found on the Black Isle, jutting out towards the North SeaFor dinner
Hansen's Kitchen in Comrie, 20 minutes by road. A deli and cafe behind a red shopfront on Drummond Street in Comrie, with cheeses, breads baked daily, filled rolls and coffee roasted out the back.
The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant in Crieff, 28 minutes by road. A two Michelin-starred restaurant inside The Glenturret distillery at Crieff, where Mark Donald cooks a seasonal tasting menu under a Lalique chandelier.
Artisan Cafe & Deli in Crianlarich, 28 minutes by road. A café and Scottish deli in a converted church in Tyndrum, with stained glass, a fire and home baking.
Places to stay near the walk
Our places to stay nearest the start, by road.
An advert · Balquhidder
Monachyle Mhor
A family hotel in a pink farmhouse on its own 2,000-acre farm above Loch Voil in Balquhidder, where dinner is lamb off the hill and the family's own beef and pork.
13 minutes by road
See Monachyle Mhor
More places to stay near the walk
More walks near here
Within a short drive of the start.
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For further reading, before you go.
Photographs by Ken Schwart and Nemo N. via Google
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