Splendid views from the Glen Etive hills to the chief area covered on these pages
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Accommodation
- -Crianlarich
Youth Hostel, Crianlarich,
£12-£13 per night (2007 prices)
- Great youth hostel with a good drying room and friendly wardens. 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, though the floors do creak which can be annoying for those wanting sleep.
- -Tyndrum Bunkhouse, email:ruaraidhj@email.com
- The bunkhouse has eight rooms with two beds in each and is all centrally heated.
Located in Tyndrum, it is situated 2 mins walk away from the Invervey Hotel. I've been informed that there is also a licensed restaurant on site as well as a campsite with full facilities including sauna and swimming pool.
- -Strathfillan Wigwams, near Tyndrum,
- These were comfortable with three people in each wigwam. Most wigwams came with radiator and infrared heater. This made the inside very warm in winter and good 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.
- -Ochils Mountaineering Club Cottage, £6.50 per person per night (2001 prices)
- -West highland Way Sleeper Conveniently located on the Bridge of Orchy train station platform.
Travel
Four Citylink coaches a day from Glasgow and Fort William stop in Crianlarich, Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy.
Trains to Crianlarich, Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy.
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. Other eating establishments include the Green Welly (good selection of cakes), the Real Food Cafe 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". They even make sure their customers get onto the bus at the end of the day - no need to wait in the cold and wet!
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.
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Introduction
This is a popular destination. 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 from Crianlarich to Cruachan is about half an hour. It takes about 1.5 hours to get there from Glasgow and about an hour from Stirling.
The northern slopes of Ben Cruachan
The Bridge of Orchy Summits seen from the south
There's a high density of big mountains here with Ben More and Ben Lui both exceeding 1100m. There are plenty more summits above 1000m including the classic Beinn Dorain and Stob Ghabhar found near Bridge of Orchy.
Overall, the mountains aren't as ridgey as the mountains further north. Long narrow exciting ridges don't exist here like they do in say Glen Shiel. That doesn't mean scrambly sections don't exist. You'll find the east ridges of Ben Lui and some sections on the mountains south of Crianlarich have some exposed steps.
The view north along the road corridor to Bridge of Orchy with Beinn Dorain clearly seen
The mountains south of Crianlarich have quite similar vegetation to those slopes in the Lake District. Grass and Bracken slopes characterise the place instead of heather due to more intensive sheep grazing. Forestry is also very intensive with Glen Orchy and Strathfillan having extensive conifers.
The view north across the area covered to Stob Ghabhar
Overall, this area is a favourtite for many central belt day trippers and english weekenders.
Ben Lui seen across Glen Connonish | 