Linking sections of the Hidden Heritage Trail and the Three Lochs Way, this circular stroll amid Scotland’s Arrochar Alps connects Loch Long with Loch Lomond, visiting the waterside village of Tarbet (beneath the iced peak of Ben Lomond) and looping back through woods to Arrochar, where an open fire awaits in a fantastic family friendly pub.
There’s much to amuse children, from rampaging across the forested flanks of Cruach Tairbeirt – where rock ptarmigan hide, squirrels scamper and birds of prey hover overhead – to hearing monster myths (a plesiosaur-like beast is rumoured to reside in the dark depths of Loch Lomond) and true tales of marauding Norsemen.
- Scotland’s best walks
- Best walks in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
- Britain’s most beautiful lakes
Arrochar to Tarbet walk
5.2 miles/8.4km | 3.5 hours | moderate | 251m ascent
1. Start
From Three Villages Hall, turn right and walk along Loch Long. Before the hotel, veer right onto a footpath, following fingerposts with Three Lochs Way and Heritage Trail waymarkers.
2. Cruach Tairbeirt
Follow yellow-topped posts, ascending a pretty tree-lined path that skirts the ankles of 415-metre Cruach Tairbeirt, which means ‘Stack of the Neck of Land’, referencing the isthmus separating the saltwater of Loch Long and the freshwater of Loch Lomond. In 1263, Viking invaders pulled their longboats out of Long Loch at Arrochar and dragged them across the isthmus to Tarbet, before sailing south to plunder settlements around Loch Lomond.
3. Arrochar & Tarbet train station
Cross a stream, round a hairpin bend and descend, passing beneath the railway track and emerging at Arrochar & Tarbet train station. Walk down to the main road and turn left. Pass a fingerpost pointing right for Glen Douglas, but keep going straight towards Tarbet Pier.
4. Loch Lomond
When the road bends right, keep going straight, along a footpath. Cross the road, go through a gap in the wall to Loch Lomond. Turn right, walk along the bank to the pier to gaze across the water at snow-bonneted Ben Lomond. Loop back around and turn right on the main road. Pass the Tarbet Hotel and bear left along the A83 to the fingerpost for Glen Douglas you passed earlier.
5. Heritage Trail
Follow this through a gate and up a lane, before turning right along a gravel path through woodlands, heeding Heritage Trail and Three Lochs Way arrows.
6. Arrochar
At a fingerpost for Arrochar, turn right and follow the path as it ducks under the railway and crosses a stream to reach the village.
7. Village Inn
Pass the church and follow a fingerpost pointing right for Three Villages Hall (or go left and walk 200m to the Village Inn).
Arrochar to Tarbet map
Arrochar to Tarbet walking route and map
Useful information
Starting point
Arrive via the A82/A83. Park at Arrochar’s Three Villages Hall. Arrochar & Tarbet train station (West Highland Line between Glasgow and Mallaig/Oban) is on the route, and can be used as an alternative start/finish.
Map
OS Explorer OL 39
Terrain
Low-lying mountain trails, well-maintained and waymarked footpaths and tracks and some pavement.
Eat, drink and stay
With views across Loch Long to the Arrochar Alps, the family friendly Village Inn dates 1827 and offers local ales, good food and accommodation.
