The route
West Highland Way
153 km and 3,323 m of climbing, from the edge of Glasgow to the foot of Ben Nevis.
Drawn with a pen, line by line
- Distance
- 152.6 km
- Elevation gain
- 3,323 m
- Highest point
- 548 m
- Summits, passes and villages
- 39
01
The route in numbers
Indicative figures computed by Plotrek on its illustrative route, with altitudes from a terrain model. They may differ from the organiser's.
02
Reading the route
The West Highland Way starts in Milngavie, on the edge of Glasgow, at 56 m, and heads north to Fort William, at the foot of Ben Nevis. Scotland's first official long-distance trail, opened in 1980, lines up 153 km and 3,323 m of ascent here: a walk of glens and lochs more than summits.
Conic Hill, 304 m at km 28, opens the view over Loch Lomond, whose eastern shore the trail then follows through Balmaha and Rowardennan to Beinglas Farm, at km 65. Tyndrum comes at km 84, then Bridge of Orchy at km 95, before the crossing of Rannoch Moor and the arrival at Blackrock Cottage, at the gates of Glencoe.
The high point comes at km 121, at the top of the Devil's Staircase, 548 m, on the old eighteenth-century military road. The descent to Kinlochleven precedes the longest climb of the route, 318 m between km 129 and 134, then the long glen that leads to Glen Nevis and to Fort William, at 10 m.
Paths and places: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Altitudes measured on the route.
03 · Your poster
The route, drawn with a pen
The relief of the Scottish crossing, from Milngavie to Fort William, takes shape in contour lines: our pen plotter draws it with a pen, line by line. Your name and your dates sit in the cartouche, in A4, A3 or A2.
Shipped from our workshop in Le Bouscat
04
Official information
- Illustrative route redrawn by Plotrek from public data: the course announced by the organiser and OpenStreetMap paths. It is not the official course of the event.
- Altitudes: terrain model AWS Terrain Tiles
- Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Figures and text: Plotrek