Fort William West Highlands Grand Loop

A full day through the west Highlands, from the foot of a great mountain across a wide, treeless moorland basin, down to a long freshwater loch in the west and back through a deep mountain valley. The scenery is on the grand scale, with skylines on the outward leg and softer, wooded water in the middle.

Almost all of it is trunk road, wide and well surfaced, so the riding is about rhythm and scenery rather than technique. Expect tourist traffic in summer, and a stretch of roughly thirteen miles that is ridden twice on the way out and back. Fuel is the key plan: there is a very long gap in the middle, so fill up at the start and again at the halfway services. The high road has gates that close in severe weather, so check conditions in winter.