A Lovely Autumn Day Up The Trossachs
- lomondappletree
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Some areas of Scotland are renowned for magnificent autumnal colours, and nowhere more so than in the Trossachs. The weather this year has produced some spectacular golds, oranges, and browns in the foliage of this well-wooded area.
Originally, the Trossachs referred to the short glen (valley) which connects Loch Katrine and Loch Achray. Over the years, this pretty well wooded pass has given its name to a much larger area surrounding it – from Killin in the north to Croftamie in the south. After many years of planning and campaigning, a national park was finally recognised in 2002, encompassing 720 square miles (1,856 square kilometres) and named Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. The fourth-largest national park in the UK, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, spans the Highland Boundary Fault with both Highland and Lowland aspects within its boundaries.
Our journey took us to the original Trossachs location. From Appletree Cottage, we drove up the A81 to Aberfoyle and thence over the magnificent Duke's Pass towards Loch Achray (about 25 minutes from Appletree Cottage in Croftamie)
Arriving at the shore of Loch Achray the water was like glass, with the distinctive shape of Ben A’an reflected in the loch. Looking eastwards, the water was just as still and the foothills of Ben Ledi were clearly visible in the distance.
One distinctive building on the shore of Loch Achray is Taigh Mor (big house) which used to be a grand hotel. Featured as a location in the 1959 film The 39 Steps starring Kenneth More, the property is now a huge and popular timeshare location.
We continued along to the head of Loch Achray, where we took a left-hand turn at the T junction and headed towards Loch Katrine. We were now driving through the original Trossachs.
After a mile or so, we pulled over into a small car park for a stroll to admire the magnificent autumn foliage. Our walk took us along a quiet single-track tarmac road between the towering beech, oak and silver birch trees. Down to our left was the Achray Water, which runs from Loch Katrine into Loch Achray.
Ahead of us were some good glimpses of the mighty Ben Venue. At 2392ft (729 meters) the hill is too short to be classed as a Munro, which only applies to hills in excess of 3000ft. Appropriately, the name Ben Venue originates from the Gaelic and means Miniature Mountain.
Down to our left, we could see a footbridge over the Achray Water, accessing one of the paths leading to the summit of Ben Venue – albeit through a somewhat circuitous route.
The view down to the bridge and from the bridge to the three water channels foaming beneath it were very evocative of the Trossachs area.
As we walked along the road, we passed an interesting sign which had in parts, withstood the test of time and many years of exposure to the elements.
Back in the car, we resumed our journey to Loch Katrine and, in particular, the pier and car park at the eastern end of the loch.
Having parked in the pay car park, we followed the signs to walk the 200m ascent to what is known locally as the Roderick Dhu lookout tower.
. A modern construction, opened only in 2004, awaited us at the end of the steep rising path. The fantastic views from this site benefited the said Roderick Dhu who was an accomplice of the more famous Rob Roy. The former would look out from this projecting summit and raise the alarm if he spotted any redcoats out in pursuit of his outlaw pal Rob Roy.
Replacing and earlier stone structure, the new tower offers fantastic views to the west along Loch Katrine. We could see one of the several ferry / pleasure boats plying its trade between the nearby Loch Katrine pier and the distant Stronachlacher – a small hamlet on the loch with an excellent café / tearoom.
It was Loch Katrine which inspired Sir Walter Scott’s famous best seller poem The Lady of the Lake (published in 1810). This narrative poem in six cantos, was an international hit and is said to be the birth of tourism in Scotland as many around the world were inspired to visit the magnificent Loch Katrine and The Trossachs.
From Loch Katrine we started our journey back to Appletree Cottage. This time we took the pretty backroad (and original route) between Aberfoyle and Drymen. As we descended the hill into Drymen village we could see the shafts of sunlight in the west shining down onto the southern end of Loch Lomond.
What a great time of year!
