Planning a trip...
to Glencoe
The National Trust for Scotland own/manage all or part of the countryside in this area and are commited to the conservation of wild places and our national heritage. You can support them by joining the trust or making a donation or by spreading awareness.
Glencoe is owned by the National trust for Scotland. This means that walkers are basically free to roam the mountains as they wish - carefully observing the Countryside Code or any other restrictions that happen to be in place at the time.
- Accessibility
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Glencoe is a great place to go walking. You can get there easily from Edinburgh, Glasgow or Inverness. There is car parking available at the most popular spots: Buchaille Etive Mor, The Three Sisters (& Aonach Eagach) and closeby to Bidean nam Bian and the Clachaig Inn...
On that note, there's a good pub/guesthouse at each end of the glen, the other (near the Boockle) being the King's House Hotel.
There are three official campsites in the Glen, wild camping is not permitted although this is ok in the mountains.
- Climate
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Glencoe has a "normal" mountain climate for Scotland - weather can change quickly from sunshine to rain and high winds through thick fog and back to sunshine again in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, if you're not prepared for this you can get very wet, cold or lost in the same amount of time!
The moral, as ever, is make sure you have a good set of waterproofs (jacket/trousers), hat & gloves and are armed with the latest weather forecast.
If you're going in the summer, take Insect repellant!
- Variety
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As we've already mentioned, Glecoe is pretty big and the walks you can do are extremely varied. If you simply want to do a flat walk in stunning countryside then Glencoe is for you. You can walk along the old Glencoe road which winds through the glen loosely following the new road and the River Coe... if you're looking for a major day trip the Bidean Range bekons - start at the Clachaig, cross all the peaks (including the highest in the glen) and finish at the far end of the ridge near the picturesque waterfalls called "The Meeting of the three Waters". For the adventurous - the Aonach Eagach ridge!
- Equipment
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- All the usual clothing (see climate, above)
- Good boots, map and compass and the knowledge/will to use these properly.
- Camera, Binoculars, Sunglasses
- Bivvy bag if you are planning a longer day.
- Plenty of water!!! (juice/oranges etc)
- Decent food...
- Insect repellant
- Navigation
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While certain areas of Glencoe are topologically very simple (Aonach Eagach is a linear ridge) i is still important to plan your day. Write a route card and leave a copy with someone. You always need to plan your route using your map/compass and follow your progress on the map... even navigating a relatively straight ridge can become difficuly when it's foggy! Be prepared...
- Map, Compass, Route Plan
- If you're doing a longer day, plan several decents, especially for Bidean - this is quite a complex range of Mountains and it could be quite easy to get lost decending if you make a mistake! Be familiar with the terrain before you start out.
Where can I go...
As Glencoe is such a big place, we've created separate pages for different walks. These are linked below.
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