Fort William — Achnacarry
Forach one
Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Forach here.
Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Forach here.
By a Slow Ways Volunteer on 07 Apr 2021
Description
This is a Slow Ways route connecting Fort William and Achnacarry.
Know of a better route? Share it here.
This is a Slow Ways route connecting Fort William and Achnacarry.
Know of a better route? Share it here.
Status
This route has been reviewed by 2 people.
There are no issues flagged.
Photos for Forach one
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Information
Route status - Live
Reviews - 2
Average rating -
Is this route good enough? - Yes (2)
There are currently no problems reported with this route.
Downloads - 3
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Geography information system (GIS) data
Total length
Maximum elevation
Minimum elevation
Start and end points
Fort William
Grid Ref
NN1051874183
Lat / Lon
56.82039° / -5.10634°
Easting / Northing
210,518E / 774,183N
What3Words
squashes.magnets.races
Achnacarry
Grid Ref
NN1761387720
Lat / Lon
56.94467° / -4.99999°
Easting / Northing
217,613E / 787,720N
What3Words
wounds.fidelity.nagging
Forach One's land is
| Fort William | |
|---|---|
| Grid Ref | NN1051874183 |
| Lat / Lon | 56.82039° / -5.10634° |
| Easting / Northing | 210,518E / 774,183N |
| What3Words | squashes.magnets.races |
| Achnacarry | |
|---|---|
| Grid Ref | NN1761387720 |
| Lat / Lon | 56.94467° / -4.99999° |
| Easting / Northing | 217,613E / 787,720N |
| What3Words | wounds.fidelity.nagging |
| Moors | 0.5% |
| Pasture | 34.1% |
| Urban | 15.4% |
| Water | 3.9% |
| Woods | 46.2% |
Data: Corine Land Cover (CLC) 2018
reviews
Ingrina
13 Nov 2022I did most of the route up to where you turn onto the private road to Achnacarry, so this review is up to that point. It is a lovely route along the canals and through forest, especially during autumn as the leaves are changing colours. Really relaxing walk with a good amount of space.
It'd be worth having a break by Loch Lochy around Gairlochy for a break. We had lunch in a private spot around there and it made the route even better.
Paul Chilcott
30 May 2022May 2022. A superb walk mainly along rivers, lochs and the Caledonian Canal and mainly following the Great Glen Way. A safe and easy going walk, taking in some great scenery.
Leaving Fort William, you are straight into the greenery walking alongside the River Lochy through some short woodland stretches with occasional views of Ben Nevis (Photo 1). After crossing the bridge over the River Lochy, next to the railway bridge, the path the goes through the village of Caol. A more scenic route but about a mile longer is to follow the Great Glen Way path along the coast overlooking Lock Eil (Photo 2). The path then joins the Caledonian Canal. At Banavie, is Neptune`s Staircase, an impressive series of locks (Photo 3). It`s then about a 6-mile walk along the canal towpath to the next lock at Gairlochy. The Caledonian Canal is a ship canal, so it`s much wider than most of the UK`s canals (Photos 4 and 5). In May, there`s lots of Gorse and broom alongside long stretches of the canal, with the delicious scent of "coconut" in the air from the gorse.
After Gairlochy, there`s a short lane stretch on the other side of the canal, then the path goes down to Loch Lochy and follows the shoreline fairly closely through woodland, with some great views across the loch and back to Ben Nevis (Photos 6 and 7). The walk then leaves the Great Glen Way and follows the private road up to Achnacarry.
The canal and lane sections are fine for wheels of all types, but the paths through the woods are not suitable for wheelchairs, although the lanes are fairly quiet and could be followed right to the end as an alternative.
Photo 1 - The ben and the glen (Ben Nevis and Glen Nevis)
Photo 2 - View overlooking Lock Eil (just off the path)
Photo 3 - Neptune`s Staircase at Banavie
Photos 4 and 5 - Caledonian Canal
Photo 6 - Loch Lochy and Ben Nevis
Photo 7 - Loch Lochy, looking North Eastwards.
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Danravenellison
16 Apr 2024Hi Paul! hope you are well. Would you mind looking at this https://beta.slowways.org/Route/Forach/11239/#reviews and adding a review if you recognise the route? I've adjusted to follow the new way the Great Glen Way goes in Fort William. Thanks!
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Paul Chilcott
17 Apr 2024Hi Dan, All good thanks. We did the Great Glen Way a two years ago, including the SlowWays bits on Forach1 that did not coincide with the GGW (since we stayed in Benavie for the first night - not too much added distance !). I`m not sure what you`ve changed since the original, but either way, my review should already cover it.
On a separate but related note, I couldn`t do reviews for the whole GGW, because we took the south option after Achnacarry via South Laggan on the South East side of Loch Oich and therefore missed the Invergarry node altogether. If it`s of interest, a node could be created for South Laggan (may be at the lock (i.e. not loch) and then a route from Achnacarry to South Laggan and South Laggan to Fort Augustus. That way I could fill in the missing bits for the whole GGW. What do you think ? -
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Danravenellison
16 Apr 2024Hi Ingrina! hope you are well. Would you mind looking at this https://beta.slowways.org/Route/Forach/11239/#reviews and adding a review if you recognise the route? I've adjusted to follow the new way the Great Glen Way goes in Fort William. Thanks!
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