Great Glen Way – Following the Fault Line from Coast to Coast in the Scottish Highlands
The Great Glen Way Trail A Quieter Walk Through Waterways, History, and Highland Forests After walking Wainright’s Coast to Coast , the Pennine Way, and the West Highland Way back-to-back, we arrived in Fort William physically soaked and emotionally saturated. We weren’t sure whether we had the energy to continue - but a local bookseller convinced us that the Great Glen Way was quieter, more peaceful, and offered a different kind of path through Scotland. That was all the encouragement we needed. So we set out once again, this time tracing the geological rift that forms the Great Glen a valley carved by tectonic forces and glaciers, linking Loch Linnhe, Loch Oich, Loch Ness, and the Caledonian Canal. Opened in 2002 as Scotland’s fourth official long-distance trail, the route spans 79 miles (126 km) between Fort William and Inverness, connecting the Atlantic and North Sea in a four-day hike through history, myth, and the ongoing tension between slow travel and tourism growth. Why Wal...