Drymen to Buchanan Walk

Buchanan Castle

Here is an excellent circular walk from and to Drymen Village Square, visiting the site of the former Buchanan Castle, which is now in ruins and getting glimpses of Loch Lomond. Start with our complete and updated guide to the village of Drymen. Do also pick up one of the Drymen Paths leaflets from local shops as it has a map and guide to this and other local walks.

It's 11km and takes around 2.5 hours. I'll describe the route and throw in a few detours to take if you wish. There is the option to cycle it, which will take you around 45mins-1-hour, do note that the track is bumpy in places, so it'll be best to ride it on a mountain bike or similar.

Start at Drymen Village Square and walk up Old Gartmore Road, the road to the right of the Clachan Inn pub. You'll pass houses and the primary school before the road becomes a single track with fields on either side.

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Keep following this road (watching out for cars coming up behind you) until you see a wooden marker indicating the route of the West Highland Way, which is where you should turn left, signed as the car park for Garadhban. (An alternative route would have been to pick up the West Highland Way path outside Drymen by walking along Stirling Road past the Drymen Inn.)

Walk along the West Highland Way path, through the forest. Once you clear the woods, you will have open views of Loch Lomond.

Stay on the West Highland Way path, following the markers until you get to a metal barrier (pictured below) that prevents vehicles from getting onto the trail.

On the other side of the barrier, turn left (if you were to go straight on, it would take you over Conic Hill towards Balmaha.) keep following this path until you get to a group of houses (Milton of Buchanan) and the main road. Then, turn left and walk on the path along the main road until turning up a road on the right that has a dead-end sign.

Walk along that road as it bends to the left (don't take the driveway between the two white posts); this is Gort Darich Walk. It's a tarmac surface with a few houses; keep going until just a foot/cycle path.

Buchanan Estate & Castle

Eventually, you will reach a metal gate (to stop cars), go through the pedestrian access and turn left, keeping on the path. This part of the walk is Buchanan Estate; go straight over the crossroad (the Golf course is the right-hand turn). Keep going and carry straight on at the second crossroad.

Follow the road round at the next junction (although you could turn left and see the exterior of Buchanan Castle, where Queen Victoria stayed on a visit, now lies in ruins. Another guest was Nazi leader Rudolph Hess; he was imprisoned here for a time during the Second World War.)

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Back to Drymen

Look out for a blue sign pointing towards Drymen for walkers and cyclists. Walk up into Buchanan Home Farm until you see another blue sign indicating a cycle/walking path to the village of Drymen.

You leave the path and enter the village close to Buchanan Arms Hotel. Take a short walk up the direction opposite the hotel for a viewpoint of Loch Lomond. A little further is Skoosh, a cafe/takeaway, where you could reward yourself with a bacon roll or ice cream for your walking effort. From Skoosh, it's only a few more steps back to the starting point at the Village Square.

Hopefully, the photographs shown will help guide you around the walk. There are no muddy sections on this walk.

Summary

• From Drymen Square follow NCN7 signs up from the road next to the Clachan Inn.

• When you reach the main car park for Garadhban turn left and follow the West Highland Way waymarkers

• Turn left after the gate across the path and follow the road track downhill

• Turn left at the main road and continue a short distance

• Turn right and follow the blue walking/cycling signs all the way back to Drymen Square

Thanks for reading

Words and photography by Paul Saunders. Visit Paul’s Marketing and Photography websites for details of his services in Scotland.

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