Glen Lochay

Thursday

10 mile round hike exploring the Killin end of Glen Lochay and surrounding hills.

Glen Lochay (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Lòchaidh) is in Perthshire, through which the River Lochay runs eastward towards Loch Tay, joining the River Dochart at Killin. Glen Lochay is about 20 miles long, running from a point north of Crianlarich to Loch Tay.

There is an extensive local hydroelectric network throughout this area, much of which is buried under the ground and goes largely unseen, but some pipelines are visible crossing the glen.

Sron A' Chlachan & views of loch Tay

Wednesday

This short but strenuous walk climbs steeply up "Sron A'Chlachan" above Killin through oak woods and then open moorland to give fabulous views the length of Loch Tay and down over Killin itself. Then it was back down the hill and along the shore of the river and loch.

Loch Tay

Loch Tay (Scottish Gaelic, Loch Tatha) is a freshwater loch in the central highlands of Scotland, in the Perth and Kinross and Stirling council areas.

It is a long narrow loch of around 14.55 mi (23.42 km) long, and typically around 1 to 1½ miles wide, following the line of the valley from the south west to north east. It is the sixth largest loch in Scotland by area and over 150 m (490 ft) deep at its deepest.

Ben Lawers on its north shore is at 1214 m the 10th highest mountain in the British Isles, and is the highest peak in a group of seven munros.

Killin and The Falls of Dochart

At Killin and the lower end of the falls, the flow narrows and is directed through four channels of unequal width crossed by the Bridge of Dochart. This was first built in 1760, though part was later washed away in a flood and had to be rebuilt in 1831. It is difficult to believe that the river could ever have been fordable here and it seems likely that until the bridge was built the main road west from Killin followed the line of the very minor road that still runs for five miles along the north side of the valley before crossing the river near Ledcharrie.