Shee of Ardtalnaig

An interesting small 759m hill (a Graham and a Marilyn) on the lesser visited south side of Loch Tay. A landslip, Bual a’ Claidheimh, on the hill’s eastern slopes is a rather spectacular feature that adds variety to the walk. The return route from the hill uses a section of the Rob Roy Way long distance trail.

  • Distance: 14.5 km / 9 miles
  • Ascent: 650m / 2100 feet
  • Terrain: Mix of landrover / constructed track, ATV track/trodden paths, and moorland off path walking (including steep descent)
  • Start/finish: Ardtalnaig on the South Loch Tay Road. Limited parking available at the village. Alternatively, it is possible to drive up the tarmac road into the glen and park at NN 7124 3857 (no cars beyond this point). This reduces the length of the walk by about 3km and 150m of ascent. All other facilities in Taymouth.

Route Map for Shee of Ardtalnaig

Shee of Ardtalnaig walk route map

From Ardtalnaig walk up the tarmac road indicated by the green Scotways signposts. 1.5km up this road, is located Claggan Farm at almost 300m above sea level. There are good views from the road, across Loch Tay to the Ben Lawers range. At the farm there is signage directing the walker around the left of the buildings avoiding the actual farm itself. Once past the farm, turn right on a landrover track passing through a deer gate. Follow this track uphill around to the western side of the hill. Bear left at a junction up the hill and follow the zig zag track turning left and then right until the end of the track is reached.

From here pick your way up through rough grass, blaeberry and some heather to reach the ridge line of the hill. There is a feint trodden path in some places but it’s not very easy to follow. Once at the skyline an ATV track can be picked up for part of the 2km walk south east to the summit. However, this track will probably be lost when an area of peat hags is reached. After the peat hags, keep to the south east side of the ridge line to pick up an obvious trodden path leading to the summit.

Before reaching the summit however, the “sword cut” landslip is reached. This has formed a spectacular gash in the side of the hill and it is well worth spending a bit of extra time to walk around the edge of it before returning to the summit path.

From the summit there is a trodden path southeast but this soon stops at a peat hag. Pick your own way down the steep southeastern slope on a mix of rough grass, blaeberry and some heather. It’s steep but it’s not difficult though a pair of walking poles would be very useful. The landrover track around the southern side of the hill is soon reached. Turn left and follow this track round to the eastern side of the hill.

Turn left onto the main landrover track through Gleann a’ Chilleine, which is now part of the Rob Roy Way walking route. From the junction it is just over 4km back to Claggan Farm along the obvious track. There are a couple of vehicle fords on the route that need to be crossed. From Claggan there is a further 1.5km down the hill to Ardtalnaig.