Glencoe Pass

Scotland’s most famous glen is also one of its grandest and – in bad weather – its grimmest. The approach to the glen from the east is guarded by the rocky pyramid of Buachaille Etive Mor – the Great Shepherd of Etive – and the lonely Kings House Hotel, on the old military road from Stirling to Fort William (now followed by the West Highland Way). After the Battle of Culloden in 1745 it was used as a Hanoverian garrison – hence the name.

The modern road leads over the Pass of Glencoe and into the narrow upper glen. The southern side is dominated by three massive, brooding spurs, known as the Three Sisters, while the northern side is enclosed by the continuous steep wall of the knife-edged Aonach Eagach ridge, a classic mountaineering challenge. The road threads its way past deep gorges and crashing waterfalls to the more pastoral lower reaches of the glen around Loch Achtriochtan and the only settlement here, Glencoe village.