Glen Coe

Sunday 24th May 2026

During a day spent resting from walking, I had moved from the Crianlarich Youth Hostel to the Glen Coe Youth Hostel where I had previously been twenty years ago but I had not been back since, so while planning this holiday I decided that I would spend a few days there to reacquaint myself with this fabulous place. In 2006 I had climbed Bidean Nam Bian, the highest point in the area, in quite poor weather with zero visibility, so I wanted to go back and, this time, be able to appreciate the view, however, if the weather was just as bad then I wasn’t sure it would be worth it. While England endured its first heatwave of the year, Scotland was wet, humid and drizzly, with thick clouds covering the sky, so I was not optimistic of following my footsteps of twenty years ago. Nevertheless, I set off along the quiet country lane from the youth hostel, past the Red Squirrel Campsite and the Clachaig Inn to reach the River Coe. After crossing the main road I walked along the path than runs alongside, passing Loch Achtriochtan, into the treeless upper part of Glen Coe below the impressive buttresses of the Three Sisters of Glencoe, which looked no less imposing with their heads in the clouds. Between the second and third sister the path branched down to cross the River Coe in an impressive gorge and then climbed steeply up into Coire Gabhail.

This is a difficult, rough path with some scrambling required in places, but despite this it is very popular. Metal steps provide access into the gorge, but the climb back up is a steep, but easy scramble that takes you to a junction. The route marked on Ordnance Survey maps turns right to climb above the valley while the left turning, clearer path keeps nearer to the burn. I thought I’d try the right turn, which took me onto a manufactured path, climbing towards the middle ridge of the three sisters and provided me with a great route and views, even though most people were taking the lower path. Eventually it began to descend steeply back down to the burn where stepping stones took the reunited paths onto a clear, manufactured route up the slopes of the other side of the valley until a stupendous view was revealed of a hidden valley. After the steep ascent through the tree-filled valley up to this point it is surprising to see a flat bottomed valley ahead hidden away amongst the hills. The last time I was in this so-called lost valley was 2016 when the weather was worse than on this day, it was raining, and even that was better than in 2006 when the cloud was so low I hadn’t seen anything. But, even though the weather was better than on those occasions, I was still not going to have a view from Bidean Nam Bian, so I was reluctant to climb out of the hidden valley.

After crossing the plain I started to ascend, but only so far until I had a good view back across Coire Gabhail to the mountains on the opposite side of Glen Coe. There were other people climbing up to the col and I could have followed them, but I didn’t want to. I have lost interest in bagging mountains and unless the weather is good I can’t see the point of being at the top of a mountain. I’ve seen too many trig points and cairns in misty conditions to want to see another one. Eventually I made my way back down the valley and I thought I’d explore the start of the gorge rather than taking to the path, but I soon realised that there no way down that way, so I returned to the plain and followed the clear path up, across the southern slopes and then down, over the stepping stones and, this time, I took the more popular, lower path, which was clearly much older and tricky in places where the rocks were wet. Eventually I crossed the River Coe again and into Glen Coe following the path beside the main road while wondering what to do next since it was early afternoon. On the other side of Loch Achtriochtan I followed the river on a new all-abilities footpath past some waterfalls to reach the car park for Signal Rock, which I had previously visited on that wet day in 2016. I am not sure whether I had actually reached the rock on that occasion, but I did now, but there is no view due to the tall, encircling conifers, so I retreated back to the River Coe.

The Glencoe Greenway continued on a wide path that was too easy for me, but enabled me to disengage my brain as I followed the trail, which eventually led me to the visitor centre where a path continues as part of the Glencoe Orbital path, beside the main road and into the village of Glencoe. Beyond the village, the trail continued across the River Coe and took me onto a narrow, off-road path through dark conifers until I returned to the youth hostel. This was a good, relaxing walk to end the day while the weather, which had worsened at lunchtime, now finally improved with the sun beginning to break through the clouds. Despite my walking this day repeating much of what I had done in 2016 it was more enjoyable because ten years ago I had been really frustrated with the weather, but I have come to realise now that I don’t need to go up a mountain to have a good walk.