Searching for Faeries

Puck's Glen

This has been on my to do list for a little while, and when we had some sunshine today I didn't really need an excuse to avoid the library. 

Puck's Glen is reasonably easy to get to from Glasgow. Follow the A82 from Glasgow, and when the road splits at the top of Loch Lomond go left onto the A83 following the coastal route. Keep going and eventually you will see a turning on the left for the A815 - I believe signposted Dunoon. Then you follow the road. We had a bit of a mishap in that we thought we had driven past it - only to turn around and end up pulling into the forest park for Glenbranter. We then realised we had been walking distance from it - as we turned around in Benmore Botanic Gardens, which I believe if you want a longer day of walking, you can add onto your walk!

When I go on adventures I have noticed that there always seems to be a 'peril point' where you think the walk is doomed and  are about to give up, and then it all falls into place. Ours was at the car park for Glenbranter when the heavens opened and we were sat in the car wondering how on earth we had driven past Puck's Glen. But then we figured out we had gotten really close and went back, and it was really worth it. The sun even started to shine as we got there and we had a great afternoon.  I think this may have been my favourite walk in a while!

Such an excellent model 

There is the option to do two walks - one of which (the red one) takes you through Puck's Glen and the other around Eckford House Estate (the yellow). From the carpark we set off to the left following the red route. Eventually you come to a split in the walk, where you can choose a couple of options. We followed the sign for the Upper Glen. Eventually you come out at a kind of Cross Roads, which has a sign post. We followed the sign again for Upper Glen, until you get to a split, at 'Black's Gate' where we followed the sign left. Then you continue down the path, which is signposted for Benmore Gardens, and we took another detour on the left which takes you down the side of the hill, along the last bit of the Yellow path, and brings you back to the beginning.

The last set of photos were taken from the Upper Glen section

The walk itself wasn't overly long - I reckon what we did took us around an hour and a half or so. It is a pretty steep walk, with a lot of rocky steps. Make sure you wear lots of layers so you can take them off as you walk. I didn't really think what I was wearing through all that much and was left with the choice of a really stuffy thick jacket, or bare arms and I got really hot! ha.


The pictures I have taken in no way do the settings justice. The forestry commission website talks about how magical the Glen is and I must say, I completely agree. The Glen is so lush and green, and there is a lot of water dripping down which makes it really atmospheric. One of the things I liked best is that the walk has minimal human presence - by which I mean that there is very minimal sign posting (it is only where necessary) and all the hand rails are very minimal and subtle. I loved that the path wasn't immediately obvious, and there was absolutely no litter (yay!) and the Glen was so quiet and secluded. I think as we got there later in the evening we were lucky to not really run into many people which made it so nice and peaceful.


Was so scenic, with lots of great little bridges, and the sound of the burn was so nice and relaxing. So many really cool old trees, and felt genuinely enchanted...

On the way down

Am hoping to bag one of these hills...

Would highly recommend if you have a free afternoon! Would also be great to go back a bit earlier and do a longer walk form Benmore Gardens, and along the same bit of road there were a few other bits signposted to explore. I am also pretty keen to bag one of the nearby hills, so watch this space!


More info:

Forestry Commission - Puck's Glen

Walk Highlands - Puck's Glen

And we even saw a rainbow on the way home