West highland way

[nobbythesheep]

Early stages of planning,just wondering people’s thoughts on which is easier north to south or south to north.planning on doing it over 3 days

[Keith74]

Both have the plus point for me.

South to north means you get the proper feeling of leaving Glasgow and heading to the hills. Also means you get the Loch Lomond section done early on.

North to south means most of the walkers you meet coming towards them so easier to get past as it’s pretty busy. Also it means you get the best riding while you’re fresher.

Everyone has their own personal opinion. It might be that accommodation and transport dictates what direction you go in..

[fatbikephil]

Whilst the WHW does have it's moments, the section alongside Loch Lomond is definitely type 2 and it is all busy with walkers.
The Cairngorms tour is a lot nicer and sees very little other traffic away from the honey pots.

So do the WHW for the challenge of 'doing' it. But plenty of better routes out there.

[rudedog]

I’ve done it south to north, the descent down from Devils staircase toward Kinlochleven was the highlight for me


If you are taking gear and camping then the North section of Loch Lomond is brutal. You can avoid it and take a ferry from Rowadennan to Tarbet and then cycle up the main road to Beinglass. This isn’t a nice section of road though, it’s busy with cars/vans/trucks and is very narrow/twisty with almost zero places for vehicles to pass you safely.

The other option I’ve dis was use one of the luggage drop services to take your gear. We got 2 peoples gear into each bag so cost about £20 pp for the part route transfer (3 stops). The Loch Lomond bit was bad enough without gear - I’ve no idea how people manage it fully laden.

Here is a vid of someone who did it North to South recently

https://youtu.be/sBqzdaQCH9I?si=BU6gLHF18JoFZ924

[nobbythesheep]

Fort bill to bridge of orchie looks favourable,think I need to have a re think on my wheel choice though ,currently running 700x45 ,29x2.8 or there abouts should be better

[Scotswookie]

Hi

Done it twice last September both ways , North to South seemed easier and faster for some reason. Sections around loch Lomond are brutal if you have a bag and a laden bike , but you can then check it off as Done , was debating doing again this year as it was quite the challenge but opting to attempt the Great Glen up and badger divide back to Glasgow over 5-6 days.
Doing it from South to North then the first 45 Miles are fantastic , it only gets spicy at Loch Lomond no matter which way you go , you can catch the ferry at inversnaid , but as mentioned the other side of loch is an A road which can be Shady , but takes you right round and you avoid the humph the bike up and down , however ferry only certain times so check that if you want to avoid the inversnaid to invernnan section. Other than that its an enjoyable ride with decent stops for supplies and camp sites if you are not wild camping

[nobbythesheep]

Cheers guys for your input, think north to south is the route I’m leaning towards now .