The Great Glen Way
A 120km trail, going from Fort William to Inverness along Scotland's Great Glen Fault Line. It covers canal tracks and forest trails, goes through towns and up mountain sides, and is sure to be an epic adventure. We hiked it 1st-5th of September 2025 and had an incredible time!I've tried to include EVERYTHING I can in this post - from facilities, water and food stops, to daily summaries and a full itinerary at the end.
If you're thinking about hiking the GGW, the first thing I'd recommend is to get yourself a copy of the Cicerone Great Glen Way guidebook - it's what I used for both planing our trip, and navigating while on the trail.
You can read more about how we got into hiking, transitioning to multi-days, and things i'd do differently on the GGW in our article with Circerone here. And you can see our full packing list here.
Please read: I overstretched us trying to cram the route into 5 days [2x half-days, 3x very full-days] and would definitely restructure this to [3x half days, 3x full-days], with a 1/2 day rest on day 3 or 4, if we were to hike it again. This would be to (a) make it less brutal on my body by the end and (b) mean I could drop the pace and enjoy the views a little more without such a time crunch.
As you will read below, I was carrying a heavy pack with camping items which made it more challenging. The guidebook has a great section on accommodation, and would be very helpful if you were planning to stay in Hotels/BnBs along the way.
As you will read below, I was carrying a heavy pack with camping items which made it more challenging. The guidebook has a great section on accommodation, and would be very helpful if you were planning to stay in Hotels/BnBs along the way.
The first thing you need to decide if you do the GGW, is if you want to do the Invergarry Link (the LHS of Loch Oich) or not (RHS of Loch Oich). It will add ~4km to your route, but it means that you will get a shop on day 2 or 3. I did not take this, as I wanted to have a shower in Laggan Locks, and walk on the old railway that runs the RHS of the loch vs the roads surrounding Invergarry. I'm very glad I did this as I really enjoyed this section!
If you are to take it, your route would divert from ours just before Laggan Locks, and rejoin just after Loch Oich ends.
Facilities:
For the first half of the route (Fort William to Fort Augustus), you have some named facilities you can access:
For the first half of the route (Fort William to Fort Augustus), you have some named facilities you can access:
The Caledonian Canal have facilities at some of their Locks, and you can rent a key to be able to use these. They're for people who are travelling the canal by boat, but they do allow hikers to rent keys too. Certain canal sites have outside drinking water taps that everyone can access.
The Trailblazer rest sites. These were set up for people canoeing the canal, as well as hikers. They tend to be wild camp spots and occasionally have eco/composting toilets.
The Scottish Canals website has a useful map that shows both of the above facilities types - under 'the route' section.
For the second half of the route, there are public toilets in the 2 towns you pass through (Invermoriston and Drumnadrochit), and some eco-toilets in campsites (if you're staying there).
Water:
I carried a 1.5l bottle, a back-up 1l collapsible bottle (didn't end up using it), and a water filter (did use). The boys drank from streams, bowls at cafes/shops in towns, and i'd give them water from my bottle when we were on the longer more isolated sections. The places I filled up were:
Day 1: Corpach Locks (out of your way unless you're getting a key), Gairlochy Locks
Day 2: Gairlochy Locks, Laggan Locks, The Farmhouse Hostel (~1km out the way), I then filtered (and boiled) water from a fast stream alongside the old railway to have at Leitirfearn camp
Day 3: Fort Augustus Locks (and a cafe called Ripple), Invermoriston hall
Day 4: Loch Ness Clay Works (~1km out of the way), Drumnadrochit visitor centre, Abriachan forest
Day 5: Abriachan Eco-site, Inverness train station
Food:I planned on picking up food along the route, which meant the most I needed to carry (for myself) was 2 or 3 meals between stops. I carried all of the boys' food with me in my pack for the trip - if your dog can eat any brand of dog food, you might be able to get away with carrying just a couple days and picking up more at certain stops.
Day 1: Fort William
Day 2: Eagle Barge Inn (was closed when we visited!), The Farmhouse Hostel
Day 3: Fort Augustus, Invermoriston Community Shop (may be able to buy dog food here)
Day 4: Loch Ness Clay Works tearoom, Drumnadrochit COOP & restaurants
Day 5: Blackfold Croft (I didn't stop here, but remember passing a sign for camping & food!), Inverness
Scroll to the bottom of the page for our summary itinerary, or you can read each day's recap below, complete with links to their reel (or tiktok) vlog.
Day 1:
The 120km route goes from Fort William up to Inverness and can be completed in either direction. We decided to go South-North and so the day started with an early train from Edinburgh to Fort William, arriving about midday.
Day 1's mission was to hike the first 17kms to our first night’s camp at Gairlochy.The trail starts right by the train station, and after an initial downpour, we were treated to some blue skies as we passed the Corpach wreck, before I made a slight detour to the canal office. Here, I rented a key for £20 so we’d have access to the canal toilets & facilities on the first ½ of the trip (Gairlochy, Laggan Locks & Fort Augustus).
We doubled back to the trail and the heavens reopened as we passed Neptune’s staircase! From here until you reach the wild camp spot at Gairlochy, you're walking along the canal path - I had the boys off-lead as is was very quiet (likely due to the rain!), but the odd cyclist or runner did pass us. Thankfully a break in the rain when we reached the designated wild camp area, so I pitched up then had a look at the laundry, washing & drying room. I felt very thankful I had the key to have a shower and hang some items to dry! After that I made dinner before we tucked into the tent to shelter from the storm that had rolled in.
Day 2:
This day we were headed from Gairlochy to Leitirfearn (a trailblazer rest site), and after a very wet night, the day started with drying out as much as I could in the canal facilities. Back onto the Great Glen Way trail we entered a forest initially, before passing through heather to pop out alongside Loch Lochy. A couple Ks later we left the loch shore and joined a B road that eventually brought us to Clunes Forest were we met the wooden bears marking our first Trailblazer rest site (Glas-Dhoire), complete with composting toilet. As you leave the forest you gain elevation to reach a lovely viewpoint at about 15k, then you begin descending into South Laggan.
At the 20k mark we hit Laggan Locks I took the opportunity to shower and to wash my hair for the last time in the facilities. Feeling clean and refreshed we continued on the trail, passing the Eagle Barge Inn (unfortunately closed the day we were there), and took a slight detour off to the Farmhouse Hostel to load up on snacks ahead of our last leg of the day. It was a further 8km along the old rail track to get there, but it was so worth it. The trailblazer eco toilet was destroyed in a recent storm (it's laying on it's side!) but it is a fabulous wild camp spot. Some people who were canoeing the canal were already pitched up in the main area, but about 100m away was a whole other section I got all to myself. We had enough wind to keep the midges away so I could cook in peace and enjoy the evening, then had a candyfloss sunset as we headed into the tent to sleep.
Day 3:
Crazy midges meant I didn't hang around long in the morning, and did a very quick pack up before getting back onto the old railway to reach the top of Loch Oich. I spent the next canal section trying to convince Hugo that the canoers we had met the night before did not need rescuing by him as they paddled alongside us, and after 12.5km we got to Fort Augustus for midday. I had some incredible sweet treats and coffee from the Ripple café (highly recommend!!), and chatted to a lovely couple visiting from Norway, before we started a climb out of the town to meet our first route split. We decided to take the High Route, and if you’re up for it, I’d definitely recommend! Amazing views of Loch Ness.
After the12.5km high route, you descend into Invermoriston. The descent is tough on the knees, so I was glad for a stop at the dog-friendly Community shop to buy food for dinner. I then decided to keep going to wild camp for the night. Again, another high route choice, but unfortunately the spot I had earmarked wasn’t suitable to pitch in, so we ended up doing another 6km to reach my backup. At 6pm with no wind, the back up spot was infested with midges. I pitched as quickly as I could, had my pot noodles from the safety of the tent and hoped we have some wind by the morning!Day 4:
Wind did NOT arrive and the spot was infested with midges when we woke up, but we were quickly on our way up to reach the highest point of the route so far. The wind appeared, the sun came out and Scotland was looking stunning. With the heather blooming the colours were just beautiful – this was my favourite moment of the whole trip.
Endorphins were running high as we reached our first stop of the day at 9.5km, the Loch Ness Clay Works and tearoom. If you’re in the area, definitely go visit. I bought myself a little vase then sat outside to have a coffee.
We got hit with an epic downpour on the 10kms of B road towards Drumnadrochit which was a bit of a downer, but thankfully it we stopped as we got into town. I picked up food from COOP, then we stopped at the Loch Ness visitors centre to refill water and had a lovely chat to the gals working there about dogs - it really cheered me up!
By this point, we’d already covered over 90km on the journey, and 20km today alone, so the final 12km leg starting with a climb up through the forest was brutal. After a last viewpoint look at Loch Ness, the track bends left and out of the forest, though a open section called Corryfoyness, before you enter the Albraichan forest. Here we stopped at the eco campsite, where they kindly gave me some insense sticks to burn that kept the midges away and allowed me to have a last pot noodle in the open air! All of us feeling very tired, we headed to bed ahead of our final day on to Inverness.Day 5:
With the sun shining, I was feeling great packing up the tent ahead of our final 18km push to the finish in inverness. We left the forest and then disaster struck.
Hugo threw on the breaks and refused to move. He NEVER stops so I immediately felt horrific thinking id broken him. With no phone signal and 16km still to go, I had no choice but to pick him up and carry him. I put his back legs on my waist belt and tied his lead around my neck to try carry some of his weight. After about an hour/4km, my hip twinged and I had to stop. I decided to take Hugo's pack off to make him extra comfortable while I figured out what to do, and the BUGGER started trotting along!!
I was simultaneously furious and relieved, but I think I was just jealous that I couldn’t throw a strop and have someone carry my bag! The rest of the walk in was through beautiful forests before we had a first peek of Inverness about midday. We followed the signage as we entered the city and weaved through streets, and with 5k to go, my hip twinge came back to bite me. It was too sore to have my pack sat on my waist, so I had the weight entirely on my shoulders, and hobbled to the finish.
I very nearly missed the final marker hidden behind Inverness castle construction, but at nearly 2pm, we were done! 
My watch unfortunately died halfway through the day, so I don’t know our actual distance, but if I add the planned to our actuals from the previous 4 days, our Great Glen Route was just over 126km.
We got our train and then the 3 of us slept nearly the entire way back home to Edinburgh!
Day 1:
Fort William - Gairlochy
Planned distance: 17km
Actual distance: 18.55km
Day 2:
Gairlochy - Laggan Locks - Leitirfearn
Planned distance: 25.5km
Actual distance: 28.4km
Day 3:
Leitirfearn - Fort Augustus - Invermoriston - Wild Camp
Planned distance: 26km
Actual distance: 30.2km
Day 4:
Wild Camp - Grotaig - Drumnadrochit - Albraichan Eco Site
Planned distance: 35km
Actual distance: 31km
Day 5:
Albraichan Eco Site - Inverness
Planned distance: 18km
Actual distance: unknown - watch died!
