The Great Glen Way

The Great Glen Way is Scotland's fourth National Long Distance Walking Route. It runs from Fort William at the northern end of the West Highland Way to Inverness along the Great Glen Fault. The route is 77 miles in length (or 73 miles if you start at the Neptune's Staircase Locks at Banavie) following closely the line of the Caledonian Canal, although very little of the walk is actually beside the canal. The walk is varied in terms of terrain and surroundings. It offers stretches of easy walking along level towpaths while also requiring some steep and constant climbs. The surroundings vary from open countryside to extensive forestry and some moorland stretches. The walk is mainly on well constructed paths or tracks with only limited field or grassland.

The Caledonian Canal connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William. It was constructed in the early nineteenth century by engineer Thomas Telford, and is a sister canal of the Göta Canal in Sweden, also constructed by Telford. The canal runs some 60 miles from northeast to southwest. Only one third of the entire length is man-made, the rest being formed by Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich, and Loch Lochy. There are 29 locks (including eight at Neptune's Staircase, Banavie), four aqueducts and 10 bridges in the course of the canal.

Courtesy of Cicerone