Discover Inverness & the Highlands - Discover Scotland: Experience the Best of Scotland - page 571

WEST HIGHLANDS
This area extends from the bleak blanket-bog of the Moor of Rannoch to the west coast
beyond Glen Coe and Fort William, and includes the southern reaches of the Great Glen.
The scenery is grand throughout, with high and wild mountains dominating the glens.
Great expanses of moor alternate with lochs and patches of commercial forest. Fort Willi-
am, at the inner end of Loch Linnhe, is the only sizable town in the area.
Since 2007 the region has been promoted as Lochaber Geopark
( www.lochabergeopark.org.uk ) , an area of outstanding geology and scenery.
Glen Coe
Scotland's most famous glen is also one of the grandest and, in bad weather, the grimmest.
The approach to the glen from the east, watched over by the rocky pyramid of Buachaille
Etive Mor - the Great Shepherd of Etive - leads over the Pass of Glencoe and into the nar-
row upper valley. The southern side is dominated by three massive, brooding spurs, known
as the Three Sisters , while the northern side is enclosed by the continuous steep wall of
the knife-edged Aonach Eagach ridge. The main road threads its lonely way through the
middle of all this mountain grandeur, past deep gorges and crashing waterfalls, to the more
pastoral lower reaches of the glen around Loch Achtriochtan and Glencoe village.
Glencoe was written into the history books in 1692 when the resident MacDonalds were
murdered by Campbell soldiers in what became known as the Glencoe Massacre.
Activities
There are several short, pleasant walks around Glencoe Lochan , near the village. To get
there, turn left off the minor road to the youth hostel, just beyond the bridge over the River
Coe. There are three walks (40 minutes to an hour), all detailed on a signboard at the car
park. The artificial lochan was created by Lord Strathcona in 1895 for his homesick Cana-
dian wife Isabella and is surrounded by a North American-style forest.
A more strenuous hike, but well worth the effort on a fine day, is the climb to the Lost
Valley , a magical mountain sanctuary still haunted by the ghosts of the murdered
MacDonalds (only 2.5 miles round trip, but allow three hours). A rough path from the car
park at Allt na Reigh (on the A82, 6 miles east of Glencoe village) bears left down to a
footbridge over the river, then climbs up the wooded valley between Beinn Fhada and Ge-