Route · hiking · walking
West Highland Way
Scotland's most-walked long-distance trail — Milngavie on the northern edge of Glasgow to Fort William, 96 miles through Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor, and Glencoe. The standard introduction to long-distance walking in Scotland and the busiest of the Great Trails by some margin.
By mode
Walking
- Distance
- 154 km
- Elevation
- 3155 m
- Duration
- 10 days
- Surface
- path, gravel
- Waymarked
- Yes
Same physical route, slower split — 10 days lets you walk individual sections as day-walks rather than a continuous tour. The lower-grade, scenically dramatic days (Drymen → Balmaha for Conic Hill, Kinlochleven → Fort William for the celebratory finish) work as standalone day walks for visitors not committing to the full tour.
Hiking
- Distance
- 154 km
- Elevation
- 3155 m
- Duration
- 8 days
- Surface
- path, gravel, rough
- Waymarked
- Yes
8-day typical split (see stages below). The official waymarker is a thistle-in-a-hexagon on a plain wooden post; signs are frequent and the route is hard to lose. Carry the official waterproof map (West Highland Way Management Group) or the Cicerone guidebook for descriptive context. Surface is a mix of forest path, old military-road gravel (the Glen Falloch / Rannoch / Kinlochleven sections), and rough boulder underfoot on the eastern Loch Lomond shore.
The West Highland Way is the busiest long-distance trail in Scotland and the standard introduction to long-distance walking in the country. Opened in 1980, it runs 96 miles from Milngavie on the northern edge of Glasgow to Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis, traversing the Highland Boundary Fault, the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, the old military roads through Glen Falloch and Glen Coe, the great expanse of Rannoch Moor, and finally the long descent through Lairigmor and Glen Nevis. About 36,000 people walk the full route every year — more in step counts when the day-walkers using individual sections are added.
The official split is 8 days with the breakdown above. Faster walkers compress to 5 or 6 (the route is well-paved enough on most stages to make this feasible); slower or rest-day-heavy itineraries extend to 10 or 12. The trail is well-waymarked throughout (thistle-in-a-hexagon on plain wooden posts) and almost impossible to lose; navigation is not the challenge here.
The challenge is the cumulative weight of consecutive 20-km days on tired feet, plus the famously rough Stage 3 along the eastern Loch Lomond shore, plus the weather exposure on Rannoch Moor, plus the summer midges. Spring (May, early June) and early autumn (September, early October) are the best windows — the trail is quieter, accommodation pressure eases, and the midges are manageable. July and August are workable but demand more planning.
Practicalities
- Booking accommodation. The constraint on the route is the small inns and B&Bs at Inverarnan, Bridge of Orchy, Inveroran, the Kingshouse, and Kinlochleven — limited inventory, high demand, book 4–6 months ahead for July and August. Camping and the bothies (Rowardennan Hostel, the Kingshouse’s bunkhouse, Kinlochleven’s hostel options) take pressure off but require gear discipline.
- Baggage transfer. Several operators (Travel-Lite, Sherpa Van, AMS Scotland) move overnight bags between accommodation each day for around £10 per bag per stage; using one is the difference between a serious tour and a comfortable one. Standard for 80% of through-walkers.
- Resupply points. Drymen, Balmaha, Crianlarich (small Co-op), Tyndrum (Real Food Café and a small shop), Kinlochleven (small Spar). Inverarnan is just the inn; Bridge of Orchy is just the hotel; the Kingshouse only has restaurant food. Stock up at Tyndrum.
- Conic Hill. The optional summit detour (10 minutes off the main path, 30 minutes including return) gives the first big Loch Lomond view. Always taken in fair weather.
- Loch Lomond shore between Rowardennan and Inverarnan. This is the rough day. Allow 7 hours rather than the 5 you’d estimate from the mileage; midges in the oakwoods can be severe in still summer evenings.
- The Devil’s Staircase. Steeper-looking on the page than in person — well-engineered military-road zigzags. The descent into Kinlochleven afterwards is harder on the knees than the climb out of Glencoe is on the legs.
- Fort William finish. The official end-point statue is on Gordon Square in the town centre, moved here in 2010 from the original Nevis Bridge cairn. The pedestrianised high street has the standard celebration spots; many finishers continue with Ben Nevis the day after.
Source
- Canonical route: westhighlandway.org — official map, GPX, accommodation directory, baggage-transfer operator list.
- Walkhighlands stage-by-stage: West Highland Way pages — descriptive notes and historical context.
- Cicerone Walking the West Highland Way (Charlie Loram) is the standard guidebook.
The route
Start
Milngavie railway station
55.9423, -4.3168
The official start — the obelisk at the top of Milngavie's pedestrianised high street, a 5-minute walk from the station. ScotRail trains from Glasgow Queen Street take 25 minutes. The first kilometre runs through Mugdock Country Park before turning north into open countryside.
End
Fort William town centre
56.8188, -5.1105
The official finish — the bronze Sore-Foot Statue ("the man with sore feet") on the pedestrianised Gordon Square in central Fort William, moved here from the original end-point cairn at Nevis Bridge in 2010 to give finishers a celebration in the heart of town.
Stages
- Stage 1 — Milngavie to Drymen — Milngavie railway station → Drymen (19 km
, 200 m climb)
The gentle introduction — through Mugdock Country Park, alongside the River Allander, past Glengoyne Distillery, into the village of Drymen on its rolling farmland. Easy ground throughout; the warm-up day.
- Stage 2 — Drymen to Rowardennan — Drymen → Rowardennan (22 km
, 600 m climb)
The first hill of the route — Conic Hill (361 m, optional but always taken) gives the first big view of Loch Lomond and the Highland Boundary Fault Line, the geological border that runs straight through the summit. Down to Balmaha for lunch; then the eastern Loch Lomond shore to Rowardennan.
- Stage 3 — Rowardennan to Inverarnan — Rowardennan → Inverarnan (22 km
, 350 m climb)
The famously rough day — the East Loch Lomond shore through native oakwood, slow ground, scrambling over tree roots and damp boulders for hours. Most walkers find this the hardest day on the trail despite the modest mileage. The Drovers' Inn at Inverarnan (1705) is the historic finish reward.
- Stage 4 — Inverarnan to Tyndrum — Inverarnan → Tyndrum (19 km
, 350 m climb)
Easier ground after Inverarnan — old military road through Glen Falloch, past the Falls of Falloch, through Crianlarich (railway station, last big resupply), and on to Tyndrum where the Real Food Café is the standard West Highland Way pit-stop.
- Stage 5 — Tyndrum to Inveroran — Tyndrum → Inveroran (15 km
, 250 m climb)
A short half-day across Bridge of Orchy and on to the Inveroran Hotel, a tiny single-bar inn at the head of Loch Tulla. Walkers using the standard split combine this with the next stage; eight-day finishers stay over.
- Stage 6 — Inveroran to Kingshouse — Inveroran → Kingshouse Hotel (16 km
, 350 m climb)
The Rannoch Moor crossing — old drove road across one of the largest expanses of true moorland in Scotland, no shelter, no bail-out, weather-exposed. The end is the Kingshouse Hotel sitting in front of Buachaille Etive Mòr, the most-photographed mountain in Scotland.
- Stage 7 — Kingshouse to Kinlochleven — Kingshouse Hotel → Kinlochleven (14 km
, 550 m climb)
Up the Devil's Staircase (military road switchbacks, 540 m climb in 4 km), over the high col, and down the long descent to Kinlochleven on the shore of Loch Leven. The descent is harder on the knees than the ascent on the legs.
- Stage 8 — Kinlochleven to Fort William — Kinlochleven → Fort William town centre (24 km
, 500 m climb)
The celebratory final day — old military road through Lairigmor, the abandoned settlements of Tigh-na-sleubhaich and Lairigmor, around the back of Mam na Gualainn, into Glen Nevis with Ben Nevis filling the head of the glen, and along the river path to Fort William. Long, but the mood is good and the finish is in sight all afternoon.
Along the way
-
Conic Hill
The 361-m hill above Balmaha that the West Highland Way crosses on Stage 2 — the first big view of Loch Lomond and its 30+ islands, with the Highland Boundary Fault Line running straight through the summit (the geological reason for the line of islands directly below).
56.0817, -4.5731
-
Inversnaid
The Inversnaid Hotel and falls — the only road access onto the eastern Loch Lomond shore between Balmaha and the head of the loch. A useful resupply or escape point on the rough Stage 3.
56.2375, -4.7100
-
The Drovers' Inn, Inverarnan
The 1705 coaching inn at Inverarnan, traditional finish of Stage 3 — low-ceilinged, peat-fire bar, stuffed bear in the entrance hall. Ann Rowsell's pub from when she ran it is still the same pub fifty years later.
56.3258, -4.7197
-
Buachaille Etive Mòr from the Kingshouse
The pyramid summit (1,022 m) framing the Kingshouse Hotel — the most-photographed mountain in Scotland and the iconic single image of the West Highland Way. The viewpoint is the bridge directly in front of the hotel, towards sunset.
56.6450, -4.9128
-
The Devil's Staircase
The military-road switchbacks climbing 540 m out of Glencoe over the col to Kinlochleven — the steepest sustained climb on the West Highland Way and the symbolic last hard work before Fort William.
56.6749, -4.8930
-
Ben Nevis from Glen Nevis
The view of Ben Nevis (1,345 m, the UK's highest summit) from the river path on the final approach to Fort William. Many WHW finishers continue with a Ben Nevis ascent the day after; the standard tourist path starts at Achintee Farm 2 km from the trail's end.
56.7969, -5.0036