Glencoe And Loch Leven Area

Overview

Travellers on one of the main routes north through the Highlands will encounter jaw-droppingly spectacular Glencoe and Loch Leven, one of the highlights of any trip to Scotland.

Glencoe really does merit the description 'spectacular'. The best approach is from the south on the A82, one of the major routes through the Highlands. The road climbs over the bleak expanse of Rannoch Moor and drops down between the steep scree-strewn sides of Glencoe. Awesome mountains such as Buachaille Etive Mor and the Three Sisters loom on either side, with riverine scenery at the bottom of the glen. The area is a paradise for walkers and climbers in all seasons, and skiers and snowboarders in the winter.

The name Glencoe means 'Valley of Weeping', and has a melancholy (and haunted?) air thanks to it being the site of the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692. This was carried out by a regular regiment of the British army, under the command of Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon. The chief of the MacDonalds of Glencoe had been slow to swear allegiance to William of Orange and the massacre was part of a wider government policy designed to bring pro-Jacobite clans to heel. Some 38 people died as a result of the soldiers' action or after fleeing into the snow-swept glen.

At the north-west end of Glencoe is Loch Leven, a sea loch that makes its way into the mountains, overlooked by the unusual peak, Pap of Glencoe. At its head is Kinlochleven, a good base for explorations into the Mamores.