One thing about visiting Scotland during a rainy stretch is there is no shortage of waterfalls. Perhaps that was why my cousin undersold Incree Falls at Glen Righ (pronounced Glen Ree). It was almost an afterthought for us, after spending the morning in Fort William and visiting the Ben Nevis Distillery. Her suggestion was something along of the line of, “It is just a short walk from the car park and the falls are quite nice”, or thereabouts.

In actuality, the falls were over a half mile from the lot and the trail was all uphill. But a beautiful half mile it was.

The venue is under the purview of Forestry and Land Scotland, and the parking lot is in the shade of a grouping of large conifers that were spared from the lumbering that took place on nearby hillsides. From the parking lot the trail enters a lush valley of a younger wood with a beautiful stream, which we crossed on a bridge.

With ferns and some fall flowering Rhododenrons it reminded me of Kentucky’s Red River Gorge in the spring. Only after returning home did I find out that there are no rhododendrons native to Scotland and that Rhododenron Ponticum is considered one of Scotlands most invasive species, threatening the native flora of its temperate rainforest, which is a relatively small habitat acreage wise. This reminded me that invasive species, even beautiful ones, negatively impact native plants and are becoming a problem everywhere.

Soon we entered a young wood with Larches, one of the deciduous conifers. So like broadleaf trees, they lose their needles each fall. You can identify them by the needles that occur in whorls.

Something that we saw a lot in Scotland, and that is perhaps underutilized in the States, are channels to divert water across trails to prevent erosion. Along this trail we saw it in several locations and it was highly effective.

This part of the trail was also remarkable for large swathes of the amber fronds of the tall Bracken Fern, which was in the declining phase of its annual cycle. It is common on the moorlands of Scotland. Interestingly, it was thriving in full sun, which is unusual for ferns.

As we crested the hill we got our first view of Loch Linnhe, a large body of water that had become the backdrop for much of our outdoor activities during our week in the Fort William area.

Also, as we worked our way up the trail there were two types of heather:

Scottish Heather – which is light pink.

Bell Heather – which is bright pink.

Typical for our hikes in Scotland the path crossed small streams which were contained in natural granite channels.

As we climbed out of the valley two things became apparent: A storm was blowing in and it was going to be a hold onto your hat kind of day.

And then it happened – we got our first good view of the Abhainn Righ River as it descends over 300 feet in a series of eight falls. This and the title photo are from the first overlook.

A short distance up the trail we reached a second and larger overlook, that was somewhat more cantilevered out over the gorge, providing excellent viewing and photography.

Perhaps this video captures the experience best. You may want to play the video twice and scroll down to the lower part of the image to appreciate the full series of falls that were captured.

As we continued our climb we veered away from the gorge and the trail meandered through an Aspen woodland. While both Aspen and Birch are smaller trees with whitish bark, the black “eyes” on the trunk suggest that this is Aspen.

The relatively open landscape also provided great views.

Near the top of the hill we transitioned onto what appeared to be an old logging road. As previously mentioned this property was part of the Forestry and Land Scotland agency and some hillsides had recently been logged.

Again, this allowed for some outstanding views of the hamlet of Inchree, Scotland and the Movern Mountains across Loch Linnhe. These sight lines are looking west, and reportedly there are great sunset views from these ridges.

Soon we looped around and started to descend on the old logging road. Eventually we found a marked trail that took us onto the edge of the mature forest which overlooked the parking area. It had all the looks of a temperate rainforest, with mosses, lichens, and ferns everywhere.

In summary, Glen Righ was an outstanding venue. We wove through a variety of habitats including a wetland valley, a moorland, an Aspen grove, and a temperate rainforest. Due to its climb it was somewhat challenging but we were rewarded with outstanding views onto Loch Linnhe and Incree Falls. It was high reward for the effort, and like many walks in Scotland, even the routine can be spectacular.

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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns and Patrick Burns, videos by Patrick Burns.

Overview:

Location – 2 Righ Cres, Onich, Fort William PH33 6SG, United Kingdom

Parking – gravel lot for about 20 cars. There is a small fee for parking.

Trail Conditions – generally exposed dirt with some gravel and stone. It is listed as “strenuous” on the Land and Forestry Scotland website but really no harder than most of the other trails that we did in Scotland.

Facilities – portolet at the parking lot.

Trail Map Link – none.

Benches – none.

Picnic Tables – none.

Kids – 7 and older should do well here. The trail is quite a climb so they should be used to hiking.

Dogs – welcomed on a leash.

Suggested Paired Hikes – There is another trail at this site, Wade’s Road Trail, but it is currently closed due to a failing bridge.

Links:

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/visit/glen-righ