Loch Lomond in the Trossachs National Park is Britain's largest freshwater lake and celebrated in the renowned song.
The area presents lots of different sorts of walks through remarkably beautiful and wide-ranging landscapes rich in plants and fauna.
The Loch has always been popular from the nearby metropolitan areas, like Glasgow and Stirling. Balloch the chief town is especially easy to get to and is a centre for open-air activities.
Cruising and sailing the Loch is a terrific day out for many people and for others it is the hiking that draws them.
Footpaths wind beside the loch, up the mountainsides, through forest parks then along rivers and streams with their waterfalls and rock pools. Nearby is also a attractive stretch of the West Highland Way that runs up the edge of the loch.
From Rowardennan you can go along the long distance path north for seven and a half miles to Inversnaid. The path is a pleasurable fairly undemanding walk through the lochside woods and at Inversnaid there's a inn for snacks.
As you walk the ‘bonnie banks of Loch Lomond’ you will get glimpses of what is acknowledged as Scotland in miniature with its landscape of forests, lochs and hills. The trail continues on en route for Fort William, which is the end of the West Highland Way.
The good news is that you don’t have to hike back but can take the cruiser from Inversnaid Jetty to take you back to your starting point. Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park extends into the teriffic Trossachs where you will find wild glens, gleaming lochs and the pretty towns of Callander and Aberfoyle, which are beneficial bases for trekkers to this district.
This is Rob Roy MacGregor territory who is a folk hero a type of Scottish Robin Hood. He became a legend in his own lifetime when a fictional biography Highland Rogue was published in the 1700’s by the author Daniel Defoe. The yarn was embellished, in the 19th century, in the book Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott and then more recently it was made into a movie.
You can envisage Rob Roy hiking the paths around here and in particular the pathway to the peak of Ben Lomond, Scotland's most southerly Munro.
This Ben or mountain is one of the most popular in all of Scotland, as it is so easy to get to from the big conurbations. Known as the Glaswegian’s Munro, it is observed across Loch Lomond as people drive on up headed for Fort William.
On bank holidays and in lovely weather it can get exceptionally busy. More than thirty thousand people make it to the top each year and are rewarded with terrific views of
Loch Lomond and its several islands. There is said to be hundred-mile view in all directions on a fine day. To the West of Loch Lomond you can set eyes on the beautiful steep Arrochar Alps (Ben Arthur, Ben Vane, Beinn Ime, Beinn Narnain, Ben Vorlich and Beinn Buidhe) and north to Ben Lui.
There is also the Campsie Fells in the south-east, with the Ochils beyond them running down to the Firth of Forth and the Pentland Hills. To the east is the “Highlands-in-miniature” of the Trossachs with the peaks around Ben Lawers farther away. To the north the 3,852ft Ben More overlooks Crianlarich and the Road to the Isles. And as already stated out to the west an array of mountains parting to expose the Inner Hebrides and the upthrust Paps of Jura.
There are a number of ways up to the summit but the easiest is the “tourist trail'. This is a wide fully marked trail, that climbs the long and gently rising south edge of the mountain. The walk to the summit at 3,192 feet ordinarily needs about five to six hours for the typical trekker.
The chief pathway starts by Rowardennan car park and climbs through the woods into open ground. The last and steepest part of the climb zigzags up in the direction of a lengthy fairly smooth track with steep slopes to the left and then you are at the summit.
Just a wee amble and you’ll be surprised at the panoramic views.
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