Aberfoyle to Loch Achray

Gaelic meaning : Aberfoyle - "confluence of the pool", Loch Achray - Shaking Ford
Walk distance : 9 miles (roughly)
OS Map : The Trossachs
Difficulty rating : 3 out of 5

With the West Highland Way return looming my friends and I are trying to do choose walks which replicate a day on the WHW as closely as possible, so we decided to head for Aberfoyle to get some distance walking and a bit wild camping under our belts.

Our aim was to walk from Aberfoyle, through some of the Queen Elizabeth Forest and camp on the shores of little Loch Achary then walk back the next again day. We managed most of this !

Aberfoyle is a little village just west of Callander in the Trossachs and is one of the main gateway's to the Trossachs. It's name is derived due to the joining of the two headstreams of the Forth near the area. It's historically an area frequented regularly by Rob Roy MacGregor and as you can imagine is an area steeped in history, mystery and intrigue.

We started the walk in the main car park in Aberfoyle and headed for the nearby David Marshall Lodge.
From there we followed a local's advice and took the red route, which led uphill out of the woods and on to a hill that skirted the A821.

The track then re-crosses the road about half a mile further on (!) and heads into the Achray Forest. We spotted a couple of young deer running right in front of us at this point. Unfortunately no one was quick enough to get the camera out for an action shot.

The Achray Forest is a lovely area of woodland filled with waterfalls, wildfowl outdoor activities and raised bogs. Good paths throughout are frequented mainly by cyclists so watch out for people zooming past you.

We eventually realised that we had maybe gone a wee bit of course, despite a couple of folk giving us instructions ! so it was out with the old GPS. We found our way back to a path that would eventually take us to Loch Achray but not without a steep climb up to a great view point in the Menteith Hills and a chance for a wee rest.

Glen Finglas, Ben Ledi and Ben Venue are all visible in the distance, as is a huge area of the wonderful Trossachs.

We headed steeply downhill on the advice of an old wise looking hillwaker and followed the directions given, which led us right back to where we started the walk from ! so at that point we decided to head for the road and use that as our guide. We could have used my GPS but that would have meant long ascents back into the woods. So the road was the easiest option.

We passed along the Dukes Pass and had another 5 minutes rest at the 3 Lochs Car Park enjoying the sunshine, before a Thunderstorm and constant rain for the rest of the trip soaked us to the core. Thankfully, when we arrived at Loch Achray our tent had been set up and most importantly . . . some beers had been laid out in preparation.

I really enjoyed the walk despite getting lost along the way, the Achray Forest is a wonderful place. Loch Achray itself is a lovely little Loch which apparently is world famous for it's calm waters and on occasion mirror like reflections, just not while we were there !

Here's the profile of the route :

And a rough outline of the route :