The mountains in Glen Coe are very steep and if, like me this summer, you are a little unit then very sweaty. However the glen is one of the finest in Scotland, even accounting for the main road and the views from the summits are second to none.
The area is thought to be the eroded remains of an ancient supervolcano, isotopic dating suggests it was active about 421 million years ago. More recently the landscape has been shaped by ice that flowed east to west from a source around Rannoch Moor. The last cold snap, the Loch Lomond Stadial, lasted less than 1,500 years and ended abruptly 11,500 years ago. The result is a classic U-shaped glacial valley, about 12.5 km long, with a floor less than 700 metres wide.
The glen was said to be the home of the hero Fingal (Fionn MacCumhail), and a cave high above Loch Achtriochtan is named after his son, the poet Ossian, on our visit in July this remained just out of sight from our chosen route.
In February 1692, soldiers, led by and including a number of Campbells, turned on the MacDonalds of Glencoe. Third-eight men, women and children died. Around 120 men of the Earl of Argyll’s Regiment had been billeted with the MacDonalds for about two weeks, and were welcomed into their homes before the order came to put all to the sword under 70.
Glen Coe is regarded as the home of Scottish mountaineering, with its Munros the highlight. The highest is Bidean nam Bian at 1,150 metres, a sprawling mountain hidden from the main road by the Three Sisters. Buachaille Etive Mòr, “the big herdsman of Etive”, guards the entrance and is regularly voted among Scotland’s favourite peaks. On the north side, the Aonach Eagach ridge, with the Munros Meall Dearg and Sgorr nam Fiannaidh, is a serious scramble that demands experience and good weather.
We chose to undertake the steep pull up from the A82 to the summit of Am Bodach so that our two sons could take in the scenery, especially the view across the Glen to the Three Sisters, without undertaking the full Aonach Eagach ridge.
If you’re visiting Scotland then don’t pass Glen Coe, even if it’s just to drive the road, you won’t regret it.