Trossachs to Glen Etive
2 days · 3 driving roads · 31 miles of them · best May–September
The west-highland approach without repeating the Applecross trip. Duke's Pass out of Aberfoyle, Rest and Be Thankful over Glen Croe, then Glen Etive as the Skyfall dead-end off the A82. Overnight in Callander, Aberfoyle or Kingshouse. Short miles, big scenery, and a turn-round at the loch. Two days is plenty: Duke's Pass is twenty minutes, the Rest is a weather check, and Glen Etive is the afternoon you came for, there and back on the same single track.
Worth knowing: Rest and Be Thankful still closes for landslips — check Traffic Scotland the morning you go. Glen Etive is a single-track dead-end with no fuel and no through route; turn round at the loch. Fill in Callander, Aberfoyle or Glencoe.
The roads, in order
- Duke's Pass A821 · Aberfoyle → Brig o' Turk · 7 mi · 15 min 📷 Three Lochs Forest Drive viewpoint · ☕ The Byre Inn, Brig o' Turk · ⛽ Trossachs Service Station, Callander · 🚻 The Lodge Forest Visitor Centre
- Rest and Be Thankful A83 · Arrochar → Cairndow · 12 mi · 20 min ⚠ Occasional landslip closures — check before travelling 📷 Rest and Be Thankful viewpoint · 🍽️ Loch Fyne Oyster Bar, Cairndow · ⛽ Tarbet Service Station · ☕ Three Villages Café, Arrochar
- Glen Etive (the Skyfall road) Single-track · Kingshouse (A82) → Loch Etive head · 12 mi · 40 min each way ⚠ ⚠ Dead-end single-track — you drive back the way you came; use passing places, no wild parking ⛽ Glencoe Filling Station · 🍽️ Kingshouse Hotel · 📷 Skyfall lay-by · 📷 Loch Etive head
Drive it
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