The Great Glen Canoe Trail

Anyone done it on here?

I really fancy doing it and am starting to research the possibility.
Not too sure if my partner would enjoy the stripped back minimal camping side of it, especially if the weather wasn’t being kind.

But yeah, anyone done it and have any tips or stories?

Web link

Nope, but I have seen some surprisingly big waves on Loch Ness.

Yes, but I think the longer, chilled route skirts the edge rather than making a crossing.

No, but would love to do that.

Yes, but I think the longer, chilled route skirts the edge rather than making a crossing.

Where do you think I was viewing them from 😀

Genuinely could have held a surf comp on them.

Was a one off tbf. I’m very tempted by the trail, I have it as one of those things I’ll do once running finally ruins my knees.

I’ve fancied doing it in a packraft but the bit out of Fort William is tedious enough at cycling and running speeds. I doubt my sanity would last to Gairlochy.

I did it in 2 days from Neptune’s Staircase to Dochgarroch Locks in a sea kayak. It was February, and it was a pretty wild weekend. The wind was a howling South Westerly. The rivers were up. Loch Ness was monstrous. It was scary out in the swell.

We B&B’d it overnight in Fort Augustus. I started day 2 by falling into the water trying to put in from the loading dock at Fort Augustus.

At the end I was so knackered I could hardly lift a cup of tea to my lips for the following week.

In summer, with the right weather, plenty of time, and no midges, it would be great. I wouldn’t try another 2 dayer in February.

EDIT: I forgot to add, at one point I lost sight of my partner on Loch Lochy due to being in a blizzard. On Loch Ness, only the odd fleeting sighting of each other as the waves were large. Essentially, you were solo.

I walked it once it was a dull midge fest until Fort Augustus. My mate is planning to SUP board it later in the year not one for me.

I’ve canoed it with my daughter and another dad and daughter in a couple of open canoes a few years ago. Lovely trip. You could hire/buy a key for the toilets at the lock gates and you used to be able to camp at them as well and fill up with fresh water. We carried wooden spars and a dinghy spinnaker and rafted together and sailed down Loch Ness. We stayed on the south side of Loch Ness. There is a guide to the Canoe Trail that lists potential camping spots. We rented boats from Explore Highland.

Top tip: Take a portage trolley.

Looks great.
Supping it was a thought, but it’s a long trip, not too much room for gear and even more wind dependent than a canoe.

I did it with a friend last year. My friend is not the most healthy person so we did the easy version. We camped at Foyers and did it as a series of day trips. This has the advantage of being able to do the canal sections when it’s windy and the more expose lochs we the weather is better. We had a great time and I really enjoyed the trip.

Just a note the pull out at Glas Dhoire – one of the few sheltered spots on Loch Lochy – may be removed as a shelter by the Coire Glas pumped storage hydro scheme.

Never done it but that looked like a fantastic trip.

For those of you with an eye on a great trip I did this Canadian Lake Circuit many years ago and it was superb

Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit: A Complete Paddling Guide

did it with a friend last year. My friend is not the most healthy person so we did the easy version. We camped at Foyers

Nice, so you shuttled with two cars?

Yes we shuttled two cars but if you are fit you might be able to do a bike shuttle. The campsite at Foyers is halfway down loch Ness and naturally divide the loch into two easy sections.
My companion for this trip was on the cusp of needing an oxygen tank and we did it and had a quite relaxed holiday.
The campsite is great and the staff were very helpful and friendly. We had been wanting to do this trip for three years but the first year my friend got knocked off her Ducatti by a car and broke her wrist, and the year after covid stopped use.
We used sea kayaks as that what we had.
I hope you get to do the trip as it’s great fun and has some beautiful scenery.
If Scotland goes independent I will ask for political asylum.

Thanks Bruce.
Sounds great. I’ll be delving a bit more though I think I’d prefer camping along the way.
Don’t think my girlfriend would however! 🤔😂

You could mix up camping and B&B. The key for access to facilities and TrailBlazer campsites is £10 per person and has to be picked up from a canal office at either end, during office hours. You are actually supposed to register your paddle in advance.

Few years ago we did it as a group of two canoes and a two person sea kayak. Shuttle bussed our boats to start from Loch Linnie campsite, got lucky with the tides and got carried by the prevailings for 3.5 days. Some great camp spots to be found and the great thing about the canoe is you don’t have to go too lightweight, although it obvs helps with the portages.

The 25 mile Lochness day was full on surfing in 2ft swells, tired with stress by Dores, its easy to get rolled in those conditions, the East bank is quite rocky and could be hard to exit from.

Pals in the kayak were cold, soaking and couldn’t use their speed due to our slow paddle steamers.

Great trip, mainly as we had a laugh, and safer as a group also. Rigging the boats together is an excellent idea in the chop.

Best of luck with it.

A friend did it about 30 years ago for his Gold DofE expedition.

If you are rafting up open canoes to increase stability in “choppy” conditions, you need to be careful. There is a narrow window where it is beneficial, and this closes quickly with it being a liability where the canoes quickly swamp. The individual hulls can’t roll or rise independently with the swell, meaning they are prone to taking on water. Too close together and they can funnel water between them that then swamps the boat too.

Whatever you do,make sure you can de-rig it very quickly. If you rigging is so shocked that the hulls do move independently, then you are already, metaphorically, in over your head. This will quickly be followed by literally being in over you head.

You can get cheap 120cm(ish) pop-up circular sails that you can use in the front of an open boat. These would certainly give assistance with a moderate tailwind. I have one that I have used on the river and it was pretty good.

I’ve used a pop-up sail on my packraft. It certainly gets “fun” once you start going faster than the waves 🙂

2.6m power kite from front seat of the canoe is even more fun. 😎

I did most of it, plan was to do it all but ran out of time. We had the key to the toilet blocks by the locks and “wild” camped close to these. We used sea kayaks with rudder kits. Despite planning it to go with the prevailing winds from Forth William to Inverness we ended up with a head wind and a big swell on Loch Ness. Genuinely I was quite scared on a couple of occasions despite having some experience of sea kayaking.
It’s a pretty amazing trip though, highly recommended.

Thanks folks.
I’m a fairly experienced paddler, though more whitewater boats than canoes.
My partner isn’t a paddler and neither is our dog, so all these tales of big swell on Loch Ness probably suggest it’s more one to plan with some similarly experienced paddlers rather than just the three of us.

I’m still very keen to do it, but I’m not so sure it’s right for just us three, one of whom is a dog 😊

It’s a great trip.

Did it with my wife years ago.

We rented boats from a local outfitter (boots and paddles if they still exist).

Drove up, picked up the boats drove to Fort William. Left the car there and paddled across. Boats got picked up and we got the bus back.

Would have been 4 easy days but the wind was against us which is unusual. Still 4 days but a bit harder work. Pretty tough on loch Ness as there was a fair chunky swell. Probably would have been a bit dicey for a novice but we’d done a lot of paddling in the past.

Plenty of guides out there. You can camp wild but still get into civilisation easily enough. You also used to be able to get a key to public loos and showers.