Ardgour Lochans

Saturday 22nd September

A short ATP walk along the shores of Loch Linnhe and past a couple of pleasant lochans.

Distance: 4km; Ascent: negligible; Sunny; with Lynsey and Isabel

See tracked route in new window

Our excellent week in Morar had come to an end this morning as it was time to head south.  However given the excellent weather forecast for the day, we had booked ourselves into a Travelodge near Stirling so we could at least head out for a bit of a short stroll on the way.  It also meant that we avoided having to drive all the way home in one go :-)

There was a pleasant sounding walk in our Argyll & Lochaber ATP walks book from Corran, which we decided to do today.  As I had never been to Moidart or Ardgour before we took the slightly more scenic route there via the A861 and Strontian, which is where the element Strontium was first discovered.

Looking NE up Loch Linnhe from Ardgour

Arriving at Corran around lunchtime we had our picnic in the car whilst admiring the excellent views up Loch Linnhe.  At around 1pm we set off walking NW following the road along the shores of the loch, with excellent views of the hills beyond.

An Old Boat on Loch Linnhe

Sgurr na h-Eanchainne from Ardgour

After around a kilometre we reached the village church, which was built in 1829 and designed by Thomas Telford.  This marked our turning point and shortly after the church a vehicle track led up into the trees to the SW.

Thomas Telford's Ardgour Church

Once past the first of the two small lochans, a small diversion down a side track rewarded us with excellent views over Lochan na h-Eaglais and back towards the peak of Sgurr na h-Eanchainne :-)

Sgurr na h-Eanchainne

Lochan na h-Eaglais

Returning to the main track, we continued past the second small lochan to reach the village of Clovullin, where we probably would have stopped in the tearoom if we didn't have several more hours of driving to do (including a ferry!)

Lochan Eoin Mhic Alastair

Soon we were back on the road alongside Loch Linnhe.  There were excellent views back down the loch towards Lismore and Appin.  It had just turned quarter past two, and we concluded that if we were quick we could still make the 2:30pm ferry (they go every half-hour).  Therefore Lynsey and Isabel walked onto the ferry, whilst I went ahead to get the car and met them on the boat.  It had been a pleasant stroll and a fine way to end our fantastic time in the Western Highlands.  I shall have to come back again soon!

Looking down Loch Linnhe

The Corran Ferry on Loch Linnhe

N.B. 30/10/12 - Post date updated to actual date of walk, i.e. 22/09/12, (from 30/09/12)