is important to find the path down through the woodland. The easiest way to find the ladder stile is to descend southeast from Stuc Odhar alongside the decayed fencing to the first col and then up the short sharp rise just beyond, before turning directly downhill southwest. The ladder stile is at NN 5522 0805 (altitude 475m). Once you've found and followed the descending path and track, after the gate with bench, keep ahead on a path where the track bends away left.
Woodland Trust pathway in Glen Finglas
ROUTE 7
Finglas Woods
| Start/Finish | Little Drum car park, Loch Venachar head NN 548 062 (or parking below Glen Finglas dam NN 532 073) |
| Distance | 8km/5 miles |
| Total Ascent | 250m/800ft |
| Time | 2½hr |
| Terrain | Good paths, with a steepish climb to start |
| Max Altitude | Glen Finglas Woods 250m |
| Maps | LR 57; Expl 365; Harvey Ben Ledi |
On the slopes above Brig o' Turk the Woodland Trust has planted 450,000 native trees and laid out some smooth and easily followed paths. With its wide views of Loch Venachar, ancient oaks and tearoom, this is everything you ask for in a valley walk.
Start from Little Drum car park (there is additional parking at Lendrick car park 500 metres west, and an alternative start point and parking below Glen Finglas dam, halfway around the walk). Keep ahead out of the car park on a path beside the main road (towards Callander) for 100 metres across a bridge. Then cross onto a path up through woods. It joins a wider track, and runs up through a gate with a bench. It bends left to pass a cairn and another bench – from here the waymarks alter from black to purple.
The wide path bends to the right, and slants up to a higher track. This contours back to the left at 230m altitude. After 400 metres is a slight descent to cross a stream. The path then descends slightly, and passes between two tall gateposts to join a wide, smooth bike track.
ALTERNATIVE
For a shorter walk you could turn down left here, taking either of two branches below, to the valley floor. Turn left through a car park to a path left of the main road to Lendrick Steading, and head out along its driveway to the Little Drum car park (distance 2.5km/1½ miles, ascent 200m/656ft, approx time 1¼ hours).
Main route Take the bike path contouring ahead. Soon a branch path down left leads to a waterfall just below, worth visiting in rainy weather. The main path ahead contours high above Brig o' Turk, and eventually drops left through a deer fence to join a tarred byway.
Turn down left, soon passing a viewpoint where a clearing carrying power lines gives a view along Glen Finglas Reservoir. Steep zigzags lead down to a small car park and the edge of Brig o' Turk. With houses and a school sign just ahead, a path crosses the road. There's a choice.
For Brig o' Turk's tearoom Take the signposted path right, following River Turk to the Brig o' Turk itself (the actual stone bridge). The path here runs left alongside the A821, then on pavement, through Brig o' Turk village. At the village end the path is alongside the road for 400 metres, then heads up right onto a low grassy ridge.
For woodland without a cup of tea Turn left through a kissing gate. The path slants up under trees to two field gates – take the kissing gate between them. In 300 metres turn off left, waymarked, on a path that becomes a boardwalk. It runs past a swamp to reach the A821. Cross to a kissing gate, and head up onto the low grassy ridge beyond.
The two routes rejoined follow the grassy ridgeline east, entering oakwoods. The path drops to a junction. Here waymarks indicate some short woodland walks on the right, but the main path turns left, to Little Drum car park.
PART TWO CALLANDER AND LOCH LUBNAIG
Loch Lubnaig, looking north to Sgiath a' Chaise
Loch Lubnaig is a gloomy sort of place between steep slopes of Sitka spruce. It's a special site for fans of Sue Townsend, whose hero Adrian Mole passes a ‘dead boring’ holiday in the Strathyre Forest Cabins.
However this is the starting point for the popular route up Ben Ledi, set off up by Adrian Mole's mother and her lover Mr Lucas at 5am after an all-night party. This despite Adrian sensibly pointing out to them that they were ‘blind drunk, too old, unqualified, unfit and lacking any survival techniques’. They overcome these disadvantages to complete Route 8 in time for a late breakfast of bacon and eggs.
As well as this literary pilgrimage, Loch Lubnaig offers a very varied group of mid and low-level walks taking in two impressive waterfalls, the Highland Boundary faultline and a little-visited Corbett.
ROUTE 8
Ledi from Lubnaig
| Start/Finish | Track end of Strathyre Forest Cabins NN 586 091 |
| Distance | 9.5km/6 miles |
| Total Ascent | 750m/2500ft |
| Time | 4½hr |
| Terrain | Steep rough hill paths |
| Max Altitude | Ben Ledi 879m |
| Maps | LR 57; Expl 365; Harvey Ben Ledi |
Ben Ledi is a fine, upstanding hill whose position right on the edge of the Highlands gives it commanding views to the south; it is high and isolated enough for a mountain panorama in the other three directions as well. ‘A handy wee hill’ said one middle-aged walker from Glasgow who didn't want to reveal just how many times he'd already been up Ben Ledi. It's not just being so close to the cities that makes this one of Scotland's most popular hills.
Forest felling has cleared fresh views for the lower slopes, and Forestry Commission pathbuilding eases the passage to the 400m contour. After that it gets more rugged: the Stank Glen is an attractively craggy place.
The one disadvantage of this, the favourite Ledi circuit, is its limited car parking. Even on cloudy weekdays this can fill up. Route 10 lets you use instead the spacious car parks at Kilmahog – but this adds 3km to each end of the day (well, Kilmahog is actually in the Scottish Lowlands!).
The following Route 9 gives a wilder way up over Ardnandave Hill: rough moorland instead of a peopled path. Route 6 (in the previous section) is a longer, tougher day that also includes Benvane (see Summit Summary map with Route 6).
Once across the narrow bridge over Garbh Uisge, turn left for the small parking areas.
Start by walking upstream along the right-hand of two tracks, marked as the Route 7 cycle path. After 1.2km the two tracks draw close together, and a path signed for Ben Ledi switches you across onto the left-hand one. Straight away fork left, uphill, on a track with a red waymarker.
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