A Farewell to The Trossachs

I had a rather disappointing day in The Trossachs last weekend. Talk about not feeling welcome.

I used to park up at two places on the shores of Loch Chon and then go for a wander in the forest with my camera. The first place had been ruined by tree felling and was a right mess and the other place had been turned in to a campsite! At the first spot, I just about managed to park my car and clamber around fallen trees and debris to take a few photos but couldn't even get in to the second spot!

The new campsite is all to do with The Trossachs and Loch Lomond National Park's attempt at trying to stop wild camping which they say is becoming a problem on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond from where people used to wild camp and climb Ben Lomond. Their solution is to have purpose built campsites miles away from where they are actually needed. It makes you wonder if they really want visitors at all. The consensus of opinion is that they are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut and various prominent people have come out strongly against it; one being Cameron McNeish. I never see or read about any problems with wild camping in either the Lakes or The Yorkshire Dales so it makes you wonder what the real motivation is behind it.

So my day consisted of driving over 150 miles up to Aberfoyle from Cumbria, popping in the Coop to get some food, then driving a further 10 miles to Stronachlachar on the shore of Loch Katrine and having a coffee before reversing my trip! Needless to say, it will be a long time before I head up that way again which is a shame as I used to really enjoy visiting the place, especially in the bluebell season which will shortly be upon us. All the photos are more or less roadside photos just for the record.

Goodbye Trossachs :(