Heart
of the Trossachs and Loch Katrine
The Trossachs Trossachs and Loch Lomond Accommodation
The Trossachs and Loch Katrine in Scotland
is the district which was the haunt of the highland caterans of the
Trossachs who sought to hide and live among the hidden glens and lochs, and after whom
Loch Katrine is reputed to be named. From the Trossachs the highland caterans
would raid deep into the Lowlands, returning with booty and driving the 'lifted' cattle
through the Bealach-nam-Bo, (or ‘pass of the cattle’), near the eastern end of
Loch Katrine.
The Trossachs, variously said to mean ‘the rough or bristly country’ is,
strictly speaking, the name applied to the narrow, thickly wooded, gorge between Trossachs
Pier on Loch Katrine and Loch Achray.
The name ' Trossachs ' is now generally applied to the scenic triangle bounded by the head of Loch Katrine, Aberfoyle and Callander. In recent times, ' Trossachs ' has even been extended northwards to embrace Strathyre and Balquhidder Glen.
Loch Katrine
and Trossachs from Aberfoyle
From Aberfoyle take the Callander road (A821) which leads us to The Trossachs
and Loch Katrine. This is a steep climb through some quite nasty bends, so take your time
here! This is the Dukes Pass, built in 1855 by the Duke of Montrose. Prior to that only a
pack horse track led over these hills. 
About
a mile after leaving Aberfoyle, you will find on the right the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park
and the David Marshall Centre.
Facilities include a cafeteria; toilets; audio-visual show about the local wildlife;
way-marked trails; picnic-places; cycleway and pony trails. Scotlands Highland Boundary
Fault passes through here and the Fault Trail pamphlet from the centre explains the
geology of the area.
(Access to Park all year. Visitor Centre open all year but hours vary. This road, like so
many other high level roads in Scotland, is often closed by snow in mid winter.
Phone centre on 01877 382258. to check).
Further up the road on the right you may, for a small fee, drive deep into the forest on forest roads which take you to remote lochs and streams not seen from the main road.
The road then decends toward the Trossachs and Loch Katrine and further spectacular views are obtained over Lochs Achray, Venachar and Drunkie. Also seen are: Bens Venue, A'an, Ledi, the Glen Gyle hills, Glen Finglas, and away in the distance, Callander. At the foot of the road, a large spired building may be seen over Loch Achray.
Loch Katrine
At the west end of Loch Achray, turn into the narrow gorge leading to the
true heart of the Trossachs and Loch Katrine with it's pier. The road is 
signed so you won't miss it!
There is a small fee for the Trossachs pier car park but the facilities and
the view of Loch Katrine are worth it.
At the Trossachs pier there are toilets, a souvenir and craft shop, cycle hire and a
tea room who's dining room has splendid views over the loch. Loch Katrine is some 8 miles
long and nearly a mile wide at it's widest. The level of Loch Katrine was raised in
Victorian times to provide water for Glasgow via 24 mile long twin aquaducts.
The road up the side of Katrine is owned by West of Scotland Water and is private although the water board allow walkers and cyclists to use the road as a concession. From the Trossachs pier car park you may walk or cycle the 11 or 12 mile up the Loch Katrine private road to Stronachlacher.
A cruise up Loch Katrine on the steamship Sir Walter
Scott is an essential part of a day in the Trossachs. It is a good idea to confirm
availoability before travelling ant distance as the steamer has on occasion been cancelled
due tom poor weather. The Steamer leaves from the lovely little Trossachs pier with its
souvenir shop and sails to Stronachlacher at the other end of Loch Katrine in the mornings
and provides two circular Loch Katrine cruises (without stopping at Stronachlacher) in the
afternoons. (Phone 01877 376 275 for details)
Brig o' Turk
Leave Loch Katrine and the Trossachs behind and return to Loch
Achray via the pier road and turn left towards Brig o' Turk. The road leads past the Ben
A'an car park on the right, opposite the signposted 
track up
the hill. This is a stiff 1500 ft climb but worth it for the views, (see walks page). If
you glance back from here you find that all trace of Loch Katrine and the Trossachs
entrance has disappeared, just like the Caterans of old.
Tigh Mhor (Holiday Property Bond) is passed on the left before the road passes close to
Loch Achray and the tiny Trossachs church on the right which is also worth a visit.
Continue via this twisting road to the village of Brig o' Turk. The name of the village is
derived from the bridge and the mountain behind the village 'Creag an Tuirc' ('an
tuirc' = the boar).
The Tea room has been here at the bottom of the Glen Finglas road for as long as I can
remember and was well known as a stopping place for walkers.
The GlenFinglas road leads up past a beautiful little graveyard and the village school to the GlenFinglas reservoir - which flooded the area once favoured by King James iv of Scotland as a royal deer forest. After a few hundred yards, the road forks and the right fork leads up to Glenfinglas. This road is for walkers and cyclists only after the little car park.
Loch Vennachar and Kilmahog
Continue along the A821 and soak up the views to the south over
Loch Vennachar to Ben Gullipen with it's TV and communication masts. Toward the
western end of the loch you may see InverTrossachs house, once a fovourite residence of
Queen Victoria.
As the dam at the east end comes into sight you see an abandoned farmhouse up to the left
- this is 'Coille an Togle' farm, another place mentioned in Scott's yarns. Some few
hundred yards further on, a road on the right (s.p. Invertrossachs) leads over an old
stone bridge (c1777) to Invertrossachs house. The road is private after the little car
park but is worth a visit if only for the view of the loch and of Ben Ledi (879m) to the
north.
Opposite the Invertrossachs road and on your left is a low hill named Dunmore which is crowned with a well preserved Pictish? hill fort. On the next hill is a large Glacial erratic boulder known as 'Samsons Putting Stone'. These two hills overlook the remains of a Roman Camp - Boscastle which lies on the plain between the two rivers which merge at Callander to become the river Teith.
The road winds down through some nasty bends before crossing the river
Leny. On the right is the old Kilmahog Burial ground which contains the remains of a
pre-reformation church. Above the gate is a bell reputed to be the ferrymans bell from the
Lake of Menteith.
Kilmahog derives its name from 'cell of St Chug' and was an early ecclesiastical centre
and the main village of the area before Callander
The Lade inn here at Kilmahog provides a very nice place to take
a small (or large) refreshment or meal and is well known for its Saturday evening Scottish Music with local musicians
providing Scottish songs on request. The Inn is named after the waterway nearby
(Lade = mill race) which carries water to the local weaving mills which sell a variety of
traditional Scottish woollen goods.
Callander
Turn right at the T junction after about a mile enter the tourist resort of Callander.
Callander is the eastern gateway to the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park is described on a separate page.
Port of Menteith
The only 'Lake' in Scotland is the 'Lake of Menteith', mistakenly transformed into a 'lake' by an English cartographer who mistook the word 'Laigh' (low lying land) for 'lake'. Port of Menteith is a small hamlet on its western extremity from whence the ferry withits boatman takes the explorer across to the island of Inchmaholm where the young Mary - Queen of Scots took refuge in the troubled times when she was a lass. The old bell which once was used to call the ferryman now hangs in the old graveyard behind the Lade Inn at Kilmahog near Callander.
