Conic Hill

Balmaha, Loch Lomond, Scotland

AdVANture Overview

This 2.5 mile up and down the small but mighty, Conic Hill is suitable for walkers and hill runners. The path varies from wooden steps through the forest section to a new section of path made up of rocks , some gravelly trail and finally a rocky scramble to the top.

Stunning views of Loch Lomond appear as you come out of the initial forest section. Reaching the top awards a fantastic view over the Loch, and over to the ‘Arrochar Alps’ featuring popular Munro, Ben Lomond.

The starting point for this micro adventure is Balmaha Visitor Centre . A really well maintained centre with lots of useful and interesting information within, and THE most knowledgeable and encouraging people behind the help desk.

While not exactly spoiled for choice on the coffee front, you can choose from the small St Mocha Cafe or the pub/restaurant of the Oak Tree Inn for post walk refreshments.

At a comfortable walking pace, the ascent can be done in 60 - 80 minutes including obligatory stops to take in the views. You’ll gain 925 feet of elevation.

The start of the route at the rear of the Balmaha Visitor Centre Car Park

Starting From

The adventure starts from the rear of the car park at the Balmaha Visitor Centre. Balmaha is a cute little village and a popular stop-off for walkers doing the West Highland Way (WHW). While Conic Hill can be bypassed on the WHW route, it is 100% worth the extra time and effort to ascend.

What3Words link for the visitor centre is:

https://w3w.co/undertook.pools.span

From the visitor centre walk towards the rear of the car park and bear right where you will find a wooden sign post marking the start of the route. This is also the starting point for Ben Lomond but the route splits soon after the start.

Getting There

The car park is reasonably sized but can get very busy at peak times, Fran and I arrived mid morning on a Friday during term time and had our choice of spaces. Parking is not free but £4.40 will give you 24 hours, £3.00 for 4 hours which should be ample time to get up, down and squeeze in a coffee too!

Pay machines take coins, contactless and the car park is registered with Ringo (although good luck getting a signal!) .

It’s possible, to get to Balmaha by public transport from Glasgow. Take a train to Balloch (trains run from Glasgow Queen Street twice per hour and take 50 minutes) and switch to the 309 bus to Balmaha (leaves 25 minutes after the train arrives, from the nearby Balloch Bus station.

Step by Step

Walk towards the rear of the Balmaha Visitor Centre Car Park and veer to the right, looking for the wooden signpost that marks the start of the route.
Follow the path to the right, after a short distance, the path splits one way leading to Ben Lomond and the right hand path taking you to Conic Hill. This split is clearly marked with another wooden signpost.
Follow the steps through the forest, the trees here are soooo tall!
Go through the gate at the top of the forest section and follow the rocky path to the ‘half landing’. Here you will get an amazing first view of Loch Lomond.
Nearing the top you will see the path splits once again. The path to the left hand side is the West Highland Way route that bypasses Conic Hill (and does make for a longer circular route, but more about that another day).
Continue on up the path. A section is still under construction which means a very short detour onto the grassy slopes and gravelly path to the side.
Reconnect with main path
The path soon becomes a narrow, rocky hillside scramble. Take care here as the path is barely wide enough to pass others coming in the opposite direction.
Enjoy the amazing views from the summit and retrace your steps back to the car park.

Click through the images below to help you navigate…

VANtage points

While in Balmaha it’s worth taking a wander along and take in the statue of legendary outdoor enthusiast, Tom Weir

The all important coffee stop…

I chose to have my post-walk coffee in the very cute St Mocha Coffee Shop which is next to the larger Oak Tree Inn. Both the cafe and inn have dog-friendly sections, although the indoor area for dogs in the cafe is small and gets busy. There is plenty of outdoor seating and the option to order online via table top QR codes if you’re juggling dogs and little ones.

Refreshment of choice was a flat white accompanied by a delicious pain au chocolate but the cafe serves soups, toasties, including their famous haggis toastie and they also make their own ice cream on site!

Final Thoughts

Conic Hill packs a punch! The views are almost too good a reward for the level of effort required to get to the top. Busy at peak times but if you can plan your micro-adventure for a weekday morning, you’ll get parked easily and only have to share the path with a handful fellow adventurers and those hardly souls doing the West Highland Way.

AdVANturing - Micro Adventures in Fran the Van