Glenfinnan lies at the northern end of Loch Shiel in the western Highlands. The Glenfinnan Viaduct carries the West Highland Line across the valley of the River Finnan towards Mallaig, and from April to October the Jacobite Steam Train runs over it, the Hogwarts Express from the Harry Potter films. We spent a whole day there on 8 April 2023, in bright sunshine. Our post tells the story of the day, not of the path: We did not record the car park, the distance or the walking time. The map and track are therefore a reconstruction from what the post tells. They start at the National Trust for Scotland car park at the visitor centre, go up the viewpoint hill behind it, down to the monument on the loch, under the arches of the viaduct and up on the other side to the viewpoint above Loch Shiel. The way back follows the same path down and through the glen to the car park. In the track that comes to 3.7 km and 100 metres of ascent.
The morning train
We got up early and after breakfast drove a good two hours to Glenfinnan. Because the train only crosses the viaduct in this direction once a day, it was tight. We got the last parking space and rushed to the viewpoint without wasting any time, where a lot of other spectators were already waiting. We set up our cameras, and soon the Jacobite Steam Train came across the viaduct. The engine briefly stopped in the middle and let out an extra load of steam. Afterwards we photographed the viaduct itself as well.
According to glencoehighlands.com, the National Trust for Scotland car park at the visitor centre costs 5 pounds a day and is free for members. It has about 55 spaces. Next to it is a community car park for about 5 pounds. In high season both are often full between 9 and 9.30 am. According to Walkhighlands, it gets very busy in summer above all when a steam train is due. According to OpenStreetMap there is another car park at the station, also 5 pounds. What parking cost in 2023, we do not know. According to glencoehighlands.com, the visitor centre has toilets, an exhibition, a shop and a café.
According to glencoehighlands.com, a step-free gravel path leads from the visitor centre to a viewpoint looking over the monument and the loch, with only a distant view of the viaduct. According to OpenStreetMap, the signpost at the visitor centre reads «Viewpoint Monument and Viaduct». The main hillside viewpoint west of the viaduct, the classic view of the curving arches, is according to glencoehighlands.com 10 to 15 minutes from the car park. From which viewpoint we watched the train in the morning is not in the post. The track first takes the hill at the visitor centre.
To the monument and under the viaduct
After an extensive visit to the gift shop with its Harry Potter corner, we walked to nearby Loch Shiel, aka The Black Lake from Harry Potter. The view over the loch was beautiful.
The Glenfinnan Monument stands on the shore. According to Wikipedia, the tower was built in 1814 for the Highlanders who fought for Charles Edward Stuart in the Jacobite rising of 1745, and has belonged to the National Trust for Scotland since 1938. According to Wikipedia, Loch Shiel is 28 km long and lies less than 10 m above sea level.
From the monument the track goes back across the A830 to the path that leads up the valley of the River Finnan to the viaduct. According to Walkhighlands, it crosses a footbridge and runs beside the river. Near the foot of the viaduct you go straight across a track, and the path quickly climbs to a viewpoint above the monument. Then you keep right at a junction and soon pass beneath the arches. According to Wikipedia, the viaduct has 21 arches, is 380 m long and stands 30 m above the River Finnan. It was built from 1897 to 1901 of unreinforced concrete, for the extension of the West Highland Line to Mallaig.
Above the loch
We decided to stay the whole day and wait for the train on its way back, this time from the other side of the viaduct. We spent some time at a lookout point with the loch on one side and the viaduct on the other and took a few drone videos there. In the evening we drove on to our next accommodation in Fort William.
According to Walkhighlands, the path keeps climbing after the arches, past several constructed viewpoints, and crests a grassy knoll with a particularly fine view of Loch Shiel and the mountains on either side. That is where the track goes. Which spot we were at is not in the post, but the knoll fits the view with the loch and the viaduct. According to Walkhighlands, it is an improved hill path with a stony surface, fairly steep in places. According to glencoehighlands.com, it turns rocky, has steps and is sometimes muddy, and Wild Lochaber calls the hill path boggy.
From the knoll the path continues down to Glenfinnan station. Walkhighlands and Visorando walk a loop that way and return along the road, according to Walkhighlands 4 km in 1 to 2 hours with 128 m of ascent, according to Visorando 4.7 km in 1 hour 40 minutes. Our track turns round at the knoll and goes back on the same path down and through the glen to the car park, because the post does not mention the station. We cannot give a walking time of our own.
