Loch Lomond's wooded islands from the hills above the loch.

The guide

Loch Lomond & The Trossachs. Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park guide

Scotland's first national park: the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, Loch Katrine's steamer and the Trossachs glens.

A Hidden Scotland guideLoch Lomond's wooded islands from the hills above the loch.

The four parts of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs

A map of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park in relief, with its towns and villages and its four parts

There's something special about the moment the Highlands begin, and in Loch Lomond & the Trossachs you can watch it happen. The Highland Boundary Fault runs straight across the region, from the islands of Loch Lomond to the falls above Callander. On one side lie green farmland and gentle woods, and on the other the mountains rise. It became Scotland's first national park in 2002, and it covers 720 square miles of lochs, glens, forests and hills. Yet it starts close to the city, and trains from Glasgow still run all the way to Balloch, at the southern tip of the loch.

Balloch, Luss, Balmaha and Drymen

Balloch and the south

Balloch sits at the foot of Loch Lomond, where the River Leven leaves the loch, with boats from the pier and a castle park above the water. Up the west shore, Luss is a village of neat stone cottages and a sandy beach, while across the loch Balmaha sits below Conic Hill and the path up Ben Lomond starts further north at Rowardennan.

A crenellated stone mansion with corner towers stands beyond parkland trees at the end of a driveway, a glimpse of water visible to one side.

A row of stone cottages with tall chimneys is fronted by nasturtiums and hanging flower baskets, a quiet road running past.

A hazy view from a hilltop looks down over a loch scattered with wooded islands, hills fading into the distance.

Aberfoyle, Loch Ard, Loch Katrine and Stronachlachar

Aberfoyle and the Trossachs

Aberfoyle is the southern gateway to the Trossachs, with the forest park all around it and the Duke's Pass climbing over the hills to Loch Achray. Beyond lies Loch Katrine, where the steamer Sir Walter Scott sails from Trossachs Pier towards Stronachlachar, and Ben A'an gives a short, steep climb to a great view down the loch.

A white vintage passenger steamer sits on a loch in sunlight, wooded hills and mountains rising behind it and reflected in the water.

A birch tree with golden leaves leans over a still loch near Wildwoodz, old fence posts rising from the shallow water beside a reed bed.

Autumn-coloured trees line the shore of a still loch near Wildwoodz, a metal fence running alongside a tarmac path in the foreground.

Callander, Strathyre, Balquhidder and Lochearnhead

Callander and the east

Callander is the gateway town on the Teith, below Ben Ledi, with good bakeries and cafés along its main street. North through the Pass of Leny, the road follows Loch Lubnaig to Strathyre and Lochearnhead, and a side road runs up to Balquhidder, where Rob Roy is buried in the old kirkyard below the braes.

Forested hills reflected in a still loch at Wildwoodz beneath low autumn cloud.

An empty town high street stretches towards a war memorial and church spire, shopfronts and trees lining both sides.

Autumn trees in golden and rust colour reflected in a still loch at Wildwoodz, mist over the hills.

Arrochar, Tarbet, Crianlarich and Tyndrum

Arrochar and the north

At Tarbet, Loch Lomond comes within a mile or two of the sea at Loch Long, with the Cobbler and the Arrochar Alps rising above. North of the loch, the Falls of Falloch pour into a dark pool in their glen, the old Drovers Inn still welcomes walkers at Inverarnan, and Crianlarich and Tyndrum sit among big hills on the West Highland Way.

A waterfall drops into a dark rock pool within a wooded gorge, moss-covered boulders framing the falling water.

A waterfall drops into a dark pool between rocky, moss-covered cliffs, bare trees rising along the top of the gorge.

A waterfall drops over dark rock ledges into a pool, bare trees and moss-covered banks framing the scene.

A hazy panoramic view over a loch dotted with wooded islands, hills fading into the distance on either side.

In their words

“Millions live near the National Park, and we love the place. Ever since steam power was invented, it’s been our playground.”

Alan Bell
The national park's first ecologist

Read it in The Fault Lines of Our Lives, Issue 10

Best known for.

Loch Lomond & the Trossachs is known for its water and for the stories told about it. There is the loch of the old song, The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond, and there is Loch Katrine, which Scott's The Lady of the Lake turned into a place the whole world wanted to see. Rob Roy MacGregor was born at the head of Loch Katrine and lies buried at Balquhidder. Walkers come for the West Highland Way, the Cobbler and Ben Lomond, and families come for the beaches, boats and waterfalls. Above all, it is known for that view of a loch with mountains behind it.

More about Loch Lomond & The Trossachs

The loch is only the start. Loch Lomond is the largest stretch of inland water in Britain, and its shores alone could fill a week, from the cottages of Luss to the quiet east side at Rowardennan. To the east lie the Trossachs, the wooded hills and lochs that Sir Walter Scott made famous, with Aberfoyle and Callander as their gateways. North is Breadalbane, big mountain country around Crianlarich and Killin. West, over the Rest and Be Thankful, the park reaches into Cowal, with the jagged Arrochar Alps, long sea lochs and the forests around Loch Eck.

This is a place to be outdoors, whatever you like doing there. You can climb Ben Lomond, the most southerly Munro, or the short, steep Ben A'an for a view the length of Loch Katrine. You can sail on a steamship that has worked the same loch since 1900, hire a boat at Luss, or walk a stretch of the West Highland Way. And when the weather turns, as it will, there are old inns, lochside cafés and village tearooms to dry off in, with a bowl of soup and a slice of home baking waiting for you.

What would you like to look at?

A white vintage passenger steamer moored at a covered wooden jetty on a loch, wooded hills reflected in the still water around it.

See and doLoch Katrine's steamer, an island priory and Luss

Crusty round loaves are piled in a bakery shop window, a street of buildings reflected faintly in the glass.

Eat, drink and shopBakeries, lochside cafés and an old drovers' innWhere to stay

A crenellated stone mansion with towers stands at the end of a long driveway, mature trees lining the approach and lawns either side.

History and storiesBritons, Vikings, Rob Roy and the first tourists

An aerial view shows a road winding past a dark loch through dense forest, heather moorland spreading beyond the trees.

ItinerariesDays we have driven, stop by stop

An aerial view looks down a curving road running along a loch shore, cars passing between the water and a bank of autumn-coloured trees.

Getting hereThe trains, the roads and the boats

What is on in Loch Lomond & The TrossachsSomething new from the park every day

What is on in Loch Lomond & The Trossachs

Friday the 16th of October.

Sunrise 07:51, sunset 18:15.

Things you might not know.

Graeme Johncock
Graeme is the writer and storyteller behind Scotland’s Stories, sharing Scotland’s traditional folklore and legends.

The island of Inchconnachan in Loch Lomond is home to a colony of wallabies. Introduced by the Countess of Arran in the 1940s, they were left on the island to thrive in the Scottish climate.

Find out more

A waterfall cascades over a rock ledge into a dark pool surrounded by trees and mossy cliffs.

The popular plunge pool at the Falls of Falloch is also known as Rob Roy’s bathtub due a story that the folk hero washed here while living as an outlaw.

Find out more

Loch Lomond and its hills from the slopes of Ben Lomond.

Ben Lomond is the most southerly Munro and one of the most accessible, welcoming over 30,000 people a year to its summit.

Find out more

The tiny Tarbet Isle in the northern section of Loch Lomond is also known as Honeymoon Island. Newly married couples were once allegedly sent here to see if they could spend a week alone without arguing.

Find out more

Around 50% of Scotland’s population live within an hour’s drive of the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.

Find out more

A hazy panoramic view over a loch dotted with wooded islands, the sun glaring low over hills fading into the distance.

The Highland Boundary Fault runs right through Loch Lomond creating two distinct geological halves.

Find out more

The novel about Rob Roy’s life – “The Highland Rogue” is often attributed to Daniel Defoe, but the author is still unknown. One suspect is Rob himself in an attempt to garner sympathy. King George did in fact grant the outlaw a pardon after reading his story.

Find out more

Inchlonaig is also known as the Island of Yew Trees, allegedly planted on the orders of King Robert the Bruce to supply his army with war bows.

Find out more

After Clan Gregor defeated Clan Colquhoun at the Battle of Glen Fruin in 1603, King James VI abolished the name MacGregor forcing people to take another or face execution. The legendary Rob Roy MacGregor officially went by his mother’s name Campbell instead.

Find out more

Cars line a village street past a café with tables under a parasol, a church spire rising above the rooftops beyond.

The tiny village of Luss is said to be named after the French Fleur-De-Lys. A local girl married a French knight and when she died, he returned her body to the banks of Loch Lomond, scattering the iconic flowers over her grave.

Find out more

Read about Loch Lomond & The Trossachs.

The journalTracing Inspirations: A Jeweller’s Journey from the Isle of Skye to Callander with Heather McDermott

Issue 10The Fault Lines of Our Lives

Issue 1Villages of Scotland

The journalSir Walter Scott’s Scotland

Issue 6Lochs with Walks

Photographs by thepiercafe and Alan Weir; Tabitha Wijesinghe, Amy Steele and Karen G. (1) via Google