From UMHC Hiking Guide
Contents |
Introduction
This is a popular destination for both weekends and longer trips. The number of mountains you can climb here is enourmous - the area covered is about twice the area of the Lake District and the drive times from say Crianlarich to Cruachan is about half an hour.
This page has been split into different sections. Here is a brief introduction to each section.
- The Southern Mountains:- The mountains south of Crianlarich from Ben More to Inverarnan.
- The Western Mountains:- The mountains west of Tyndrum including Ben Lui and Ben Cruachan
- The Northern Mountains:- The mountains around Bridge of Orchy including Stob Ghabhar and Beinn Dorain
- The Eastern Mountains:- The mountains east of Tyndrum and Crianlarich including Beinn Odhar and Ben Challum
Trip Reports
- November 2005 - Bad weather, but awesome trip!
- New Year 1999
Accommodation
Crianlarich Youth Hostel, Crianlarich, £9 per person per night (up to date?) A great youth hostel with a good drying room. The wardens are top people and very friendly. One is a member of the local mountain rescue team so he knows the hills very well if you're wanting advice. The dining area and common room are generously sized with a good selection of outdoor magazines to read through during those stormy days or long nights. There is plenty of personal space in the dormitories.
Tyndrum Bunkhouse, £8.50 per person per night, email:ruaraidhj@email.com The bunkhouse has eight rooms with two beds in each and is all centrally heated. Located in Tyndrum, it is conveniently situated only 2 mins walk away from the Invervey Hotel. The editor has been informed that there is also a licensed restaurant on site as well as a campsite with full facilities including sauna and swimming pool! There'll be more info to come. Strathfillan Wigwams, near Tyndrum, £8 per person per night + 50p showers, The leaflet had said these wigwams sleep four in each, but it was found that with four people in each, space would be very limited. They were, however, very comfortable with three people in each wigwam. Each wigwam came with radiator and infrared heater. This made the inside very warm, warm enough to dry very wet gear overnight. The cookhouse was also very warm though space was limited with only four cooking rings to cater for 25 wigwamers plus campers and caravaners.
Eating and Drinking
There are two pubs in Crianlarich. One's called "The Rod and Reel" in the village centre and there's another pub/restaurant just outside the village in the Killin direction, called the "Ben More Hotel".
There's a pub in Tyndrum called the Invervey Hotel: quite nice, superb choccy fudge cake and ice cream. Other eating establishments include the Green Welly (good selection of cakes), the Little Chef (huge buttys and beef burgers) and the Tyndrum restaurant.
Other pubs further away include: Bridge of Orchy Hotel with it's open fire and nice mountain pictures on the walls as well as photo records of numerous 'great blizzards' where the snow plough driver was nicked for causing an obstruction on the road! The B of O hotel is one that is spoken highly of by many people - including Hamish Brown in his book "Hamish's Mountain Walk". The only fault was the fact that they didn't have choccy cake when the author was there! They even make sure their customers get onto the bus at the end of the day. The Drovers Inn is a popular one and rightly so. It's situated a few miles north of Loch Lomond. It has a great open fire and serves pretty good bar meals. There's also a stuffed, angry-looking bear in the foyer - though you shouldn't get scared of that now!
Travel
Four coaches a day run from Glasgow to Fort William and stop in Crianlarich, Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy. These are run by Scottish Citylink In addition, four trains a day run to the same places, details of train times can be obtained at Railtrack.
