Great Glen Way: Grotaig to Drumnadrochit

Dun Scriben Fort

Dun Sciben Fort is a vitrified fort situated just below Grotaig on the northern side of Loch Ness. Little now remains above ground level, although some walkers use it as a wild campsite.

Lewiston and Drumnadrochit

The two villages of Lewiston and Drumnadrochit are situated about half a mile apart on the northern bank of Loch Ness. When combined, they are the largest settlement on the Great Glen Way between Fort Augustus and Inverness, and have several pubs, hotels and a large shop. Drumnadrochit also has a large car park beside the visitor's centre, and a couple of Loch Ness-monster themed attractions.

Urquhart Castle

Urquhart Castle is situated at Strone Point on the northern bank of Loch Ness, about a mile and a half east of Drumnadrochit. Built on the site of a much earlier fort in the early 13th Century by the Durward family, although it was later gifted by the Scottish Crown to the Grants. It had a wild and combative life, finally being destroyed to prevent it falling into Jacobite hands. The remaining ruins are situated in a magnificent location beside Loch Ness, and are well worth a visit, although hardly the most interesting castle in Scotland.

The ruins have a popular visitor's centre run by Scottish Heritage, built out of the same red sandstone as the rest of the castle.

Loch Ness

Loch Ness possibly has to be the most famous location in the entirety of Scotland, eclipsing even Edinburgh Castle in the public's imagination. Just the statistics are mind-blowing: it stretches for nearly 23 miles from Fort Augustus in the southwest to Inverness in the northeast; it is over 1.5 miles wide and is an incredible 230 metres deep. It contains more freshwater than all of the lakes in England and Wales combined.

Yet these figures are not why people visit. It takes a certain something for a place to develop a mythology, and Loch Ness has mythology in spades. It is far from the remotest place in Scotland and the scenery, although grand, is far from the best the country has to offer. So why is it so popular?

The answer is a little sighting made in 1933.

The A82 main road follows the northern shoreline of the loch, whilst the southern shore is much less accessible and quieter for much of its length.

The Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness monster is a mythological beast which, like the Yeti, has managed to become an international phenomena. A monster was first reported in the seventh century by Saint Adomnan of Iona, although this was in the river rather than the loch itself. There was a long gap before the next believable sighting, when George Spicer and his wife saw a strange creature cross the road in front of their car. Other on-land sightings were seen until 1963, after which they have all been in the water.

Many photographs have been taken of the monster over the years, but some have been proved to be fakes or suspect whilst others are too grainy or inconclusive. I am a great sceptic and am all too aware that the human mind is exceptionally able at making connection between arbitrary events (just think of the Rorschach test), and it is all too easy to dismiss most of the sightings.

I am not alone. Most scientists believe that the Loch Ness Monster does not really exist; that even the lake's vastness is too small to feed and hide such a large beast. Yet knowledge of science is irrelevant as you stand next to the shore and find your gaze roaming hopefully across the water, looking for odd ripples and wondering, for a moment, what lurks underneath.

A great deal of tourism around the northern shore of Loch Ness depends on the mystique around the monster, and it is possible to buy Loch Ness Monster tea-towels, shirts and even, God forbid, Tam o' Shanters.