John Muir Way: Helensburgh to Balloch

Saturday 23rd August 2025

A few years ago, while studying a map of the long distance trails in Scotland, I came up with an idea to combine several trails into an awesome trek across the central belt of Scotland and down the east coast into Northumberland. The first trail, and taking up more than half the distance, is the John Muir Way, which starts in Helensburgh at the mouth of the Clyde. John Muir was a nineteenth century naturalist who pioneered the environmental movement, especially in the United States. He was born in Dunbar, in Scotland, but while still a child he immigrated to North America where he campaigned for the formation of the first national parks. The John Muir Way follows his final journey from Dunbar to the Firth of Clyde where he set sail for America. However, rather than following in his steps, the trail is usually done in the other direction, retracing John Muir’s journey, starting from Helensburgh. I had a troublesome journey up to Scotland, starting with train strikes on the line to Birmingham, which forced me to travel Friday evening and stay in the Backpacker’s Hostel before the catching the train to Scotland early the following morning, which arrived in Glasgow late, but I eventually reached Helensburgh where I was finally able to begin my trek across Scotland. First, I made my way onto the pier from where the steamers used to set sail across the Atlantic, though not anymore and the pier is now deteriorating. The start of the trail is on the landward side of the pier beside a memorial to John Muir and from there it heads up the hill, through the town and away from the coast.

The trail took me past some grand houses, around Helensburgh Upper Station, and on to reach Hill House, which is regarded as an architectural masterpiece, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, but I couldn’t see it as it was covered in scaffolding and I wasn’t there to look around houses. Instead I headed through a strip of woodland along the edge of Helensburgh that brought me onto the main road to walk along a cycle path beside it, which was enlivened by many wild flowers including crocosmia, rosebay willowherb and knapweed. I knew I was not going to be traversing any mountains on this holiday, so the sight to the north of the hills of the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park filled me with a longing to be heading in that direction, but I needed gentle walks on this holiday so maybe this was for the best. I had hardly done any walking over the summer, since completing the Cambrian Way at the beginning of June, partly due to the heat, but also stress and poor sleep, so my primary goal for this holiday was just to let go of the noise of everyday life and embrace life on the trail. There is nothing better for me than walking and I had loved doing the Cambrian Way so it had been a shock for me to return to normal life afterwards. Now that I was finally back on the trail I could let it do its miraculous work on my psyche. When I eventually came off the cycle path I turned onto a path that is often closed for tree felling, so I was curious to see what I would find. I had expected a thick conifer plantation, but instead deciduous trees lined the path while the conifers were so young I could see over their tops which let me see more of the mountains to the north and of Loch Lomond to the east.

Despite the overcast skies, this was a picturesque walk with the purple flowers of devil’s bit scabious and heather adding to the scene as I crossed Bannachra Muir gradually climbing around Ben Bowie. On the eastern slopes I came across a barrier across the forestry track and a sign that indicated there were felling operations ahead and I would need to take a diversion. This forced me to descend back towards Helensburgh along a great path with stunning views across the Firth of Clyde while heather lined the path. Before returning to Helensburgh the diversion eventually took me left across the hillside on a tedious, wide track to reach a farmer’s road and finally climb back up the hill, past the farm and eventually return to the John Muir Way below Killoeter escarpment. This diversion took me over an hour and was very tiring, so I relieved to be back on the trail, which soon led me onto Stoneymollan Muir with views down to Loch Lomond and the end of this stage of the trail, in Balloch. Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures at this point so I have nothing to preserve the memory of that delightful descent until I reached a line of trees that marked my coming off the moor and onto a road that led me into Balloch. This fabulous descent started my treatment to refresh my body from the summer’s hardships and by the time I reached the bottom I felt much better.

The John Muir Way took me over the busy A82 road and into the Loch Lomond Shores complex, which I had previously visited at the start of my first walking holiday in Scotland, back in 2004, before doing the West Highland Way. Now, I rushed past the crowds and shops and through the woodland that lines the southern tip of Loch Lomond to eventually reach the railway station in Balloch, which is at the end of the first stage of the John Muir Way. This first day of my holiday was a brief taste of the walking that was ahead of me, made a little longer due to the diversion around Gouk Hill, which I could have done without. The weather was never bad, but sunshine was rare and fleeting while persistent cloud covered the skies and ensured that it was never too hot, so this short walk was a relaxing start to my holiday.

Cambrian Way rerun: Llyn Ogwen to Conwy

Friday 6th June 2025

Three weeks after I set off along the Cambrian Way, last spring, I began the twenty-first stage of this challenging long distance trail. It was a relief after the rain of the day before to find sunshine as I left Idwal Cottage Youth Hostel early in the morning for the longest stretch of high-level walking on the whole route that takes in six mountains more than three thousand feet high. First I crossed the road above Rhaeadr Ogwen falls to join the rough path that crosses the foot of the steep slopes of Pen yr Ole Wen along the shore of Llyn Ogwen. A path climbs from the bridge straight up the mountain, but it is not recommended as it is very steep and eroded so the Cambrian Way deliberately avoids it by following the route that I have always taken on previous visits here. The path beside the lake is very rocky with some scrambling required around boulders and after the heavy rain of the day before the ground was very wet which made my way even trickier than normal, but it gradually improved and eventually I reached the Afon Lloer beside Tal y Llyn Ogwen where I turned left to climb the hillside beside the stream. The weather often seems to be poor when I take this route into the Carneddau Mountains so I felt lucky to have good weather for my final day on the Cambrian Way as if I was being rewarded for my efforts not only for the day before but for the past three weeks on the whole trail. Before finally moving away from the stream I made a point of refilling my water bottle because I knew I would not be any other chance to do so for a long while.

A clear path led me to an enjoyable scramble up some rocks, but any hope I may have had that my way would now be easy was dashed as I saw from the top of the scramble that the eastern ridge of Pen yr Ole Wen continues to rise steeply all the way up to the summit of my first three thousand footer of the day. A cold wind was blowing at the top of Pen yr Ole Wen which prompted me to put on my cagoule before setting off along the stony ridge that led me over Carnedd Fach while I enjoyed extensive views north and towards the highest mountains in the Carneddau. Soon I reached the summit of Carnedd Dafydd, my second high mountain of the day, and immediately I set off along the fabulous ridge that snakes around the head of Cwm Pen-llafar above the crags of Ysgolion Duon. There was often no wind blowing while I was on this path which always feels magical at the top of a mountain and added to my enjoyment as I made my way along the long, variable ridge over grass, loose stones and large boulders that kept me entertained eventually leading me to the lowest point on the ridge before the final steep climb to the summit of Carnedd Llewelyn, the second highest mountain in Wales. Some dark clouds were gathering over the summit and on the far side it was misty so views were now intermittent and as a few drops of rain were falling I continued along the ridge through the mist to pass over Foel Grach and reach mountain number five, now known as Carnedd Gwenllian, but it was called Carnedd Uchaf when I first visited the mountain. My route now turned east, to my right, and as the weather began to improve, or as I left the bad weather behind, I climbed up to Foel-fras, my final three thousand footer of the day, however, I still had a lot of walking to do. I would have loved it if my way was downhill from here all the way into Conwy, but tragically that was not the case. 

With awesome views towards the Conwy valley and out to sea I descended over the small rises of Drum and Carnedd y Ddelw before turning right to descend more steeply down to the pass of Bwlch y Ddeufaen. I was dismayed when I realised that from the pass I would have to climb the steep heather-covered slopes beyond, so I resignedly set off up the hill which went on for much longer than I hoped until eventually I reached the summit of Foel Lwyd where I followed a wall across a col and over the craggy hill of Tal y Fan. The broad grassy slopes beyond revealed a tremendous view that for the first time included Conwy Castle, so, after three weeks my ultimate goal was finally in view, and after reaching a standing stone I followed a wide track on a gentle descent that I hoped would lead me all the way there. Unfortunately Cambrian Way was not going to end that easily for me as it left the wide track to cross a low ridge and descend into a valley. When I eventually thought of checking my location I realised that I had missed a turning and should not have been descending into a valley. Rather than turning around and retracing my steps, climbing back up the hill, which with hindsight I should have done, I tried to take a shortcut, but the only route I found led to a ridiculously steep climb straight back up the hill. When I eventually reached the correct path I was completely exhausted and staggered along the path around the side of the hill to Sychnant Pass. The finale to the Cambrian Way follows a meandering route over Mynydd y Dref, known as Conwy Mountain, where I had stunning views towards Llandudno and along the ridge towards Conwy Castle, which looked fantastic as it heralded the end of my three week trek along the Cambrian Way.

This felt like a grandstand finish to the trail, but I felt it had put the start to shame which was pathetic in comparison. In an attempt to contrast with the end at Conwy Castle, the Cambrian Way begins at Cardiff Castle, but it lacks the same gravitas. Rather than a castle to castle trail, it should be coast to coast and while walking along the ridge of Conwy Mountain I felt like I had reached the north coast of Wales, but Cardiff Castle is a long way from the coast. I tried to correct that by starting from Cardiff Bay, which is perhaps a better starting place. All too soon I came off the hill and into the streets of Conwy, through the town walls and to the foot of Conwy Castle where I found the plaque that commemorates the end of the Cambrian Way. After three weeks, and nine months since my first attempt at doing the Cambrian Way, I had completed the trail, but this final stage, especially my exhausting climb back out of the valley near the end, left me so tired I couldn’t think clearly to reflect on my achievement. This is an epic trail that I thoroughly enjoyed doing, so much so that I didn’t want to go back to work afterwards. Ordinary life paled in comparison to the highs of life on the trail, especially after three weeks. Few other trails are able to match the variety, including the grand traverses over many different mountains that are included on the Cambrian Way. As I caught a train home the following day all I could think about was how to tackle the Cambrian Way a third time.