Drumnadrochit to Inverness
Drumnadrochit to Inverness
Distance: 18.8 miles / 30.2 km (19.6 miles / 31.5 km via high route)
Please be aware of a short diversion on the exit/approach to Inverness. Information can be found here.
Also please be aware that the stone monolith signifying the start/end of the route has had to be temporarily taken down. More information here.
The longest stretch of the route between major settlements is often split in two by walkers by breaking at Abriachan, where a small amount of accommodation can be found. Alternatively transport can often be arranged to and from the half way point, either by taxi or through your accommodation provider, allowing for a second night in Drumnadrochit or Inverness.
The walk out of Drumnadrochit involves a mile long stretch of pavement beside the busy A82 road. As the speed limit for most of this stretch is 60mph, please be aware of the traffic, especially if you’re carrying large rucksacks.
A steep climb on a winding path through the woods up to Craig Nay joins with a forest road leading to Abriachan, site of Abriachan Forest Trust, the first community woodland in the UK to be bought from the Forestry Commission. Quickly upon entering the Abriachan woodland, GGW users will be faced with a choice between the original low route or new high route.
The low route section rises to just 380m and follows 1.8 miles (2.9 km) of forest road before connecting back with the high route. This section is good for horses and cycling and provides some easy walking, without much elevation difference.
The high route takes users to the highest point on the whole GGW, at 434m, and follows 2.5 miles (4.1 km) of path before re-joining the low route. Most of the route follows footpaths which can be a nice break from the wider vehicle tracks that the low route continues along. The views from the hill are spectacular and provide a very scenic experience, no matter which way you look. Ben Wyvis can be seen to the north, the rounded top of Meall Fuar-mhonaidh to the southwest, and you can just about make out Loch Ness to the east with the protrusion of Dores Beach reaching out into the water.
After a section of road walking the route passes back onto forest track, following an old section of Drove Road. This network of tracks throughout Scotland was used in the 18th and 19th centuries to drive livestock from pasturelands all over the Highlands to the cattle markets of lowland Scotland and beyond.
Beyond the forest, the route comes out onto a wide view of the City of Inverness. Following the route down the hill leads through the Ness Islands and along the River Ness to Inverness Castle where the Great Glen Way ends.
Inverness, the Capital of the Highlands, is a small city containing a wide selection of shops, cafés and restaurants, B&B’s, Hotels, as well as a hospital and railway and bus stations with services to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
