This 12km circuit on the eastern shore of Loch Ness, follows a variety of tracks, paths and some tarmac. There is a total ascent of around 500m and the rewards are plenty of lovely views of forestry, mountains and the loch itself. It’s a great route to walk or run and close to the Highlands capital of Inverness.
You could choose to start from various locations, such as Foyers, the Falls of Foyers or Inverfarigaig. I parked at a small forestry car park at Inverfarigaig, which is free to use and has public toilets (also free to use).
The route start point is at around 75m elevation and heads south-west out of the car park and straight up a forestry track. Look out for red waymarkers and you may even see deer if you are lucky.
I ran with my friend Claire, setting a pace thta allowed us to jog uphill. The forest, with tall, dense trees quickly absorbed us and the silence of our natural surroundings felt wonderful. Every so often, I caught the delicious aroma of pine.
There are plenty of small ups and downs before reaching a high point of 215m elevation at Toman Tarsuinn after some 2.5km of climb.
What follows is a wonderful downhill stretch on a wide track, except for a large area of water-logged ground as we approached Foyers. We made use of wood and stones to crossed a narrower section of the water that crossed the track.
To the south of the village of Foyers we exited the forest and turned left on to a short stretch of road and pavement. The road climbs again to reach the entrance to a path that leads to the Falls of Foyers. (There is also a shop for snacks and ice creams etc).
This is a popular attraction and we encountered many Easter holiday families walking the narrow path. The route goes downhill quite steeply but the path is well-made and has steps where needed.
The waterfall was in spate and magnificent. The water cascades over a drop of some 45m at the head of an impressive deep tree-lined gorge.
There are several viewpoints and Claire and I took our time to stop at each. The spray of the water gave us a welcome cooling shower at times.
To continue the circuit, we needed to reascend and return to close to the road (the entrance to the path to the falls). Look for a path to your left that passes a bench.
This path winds downhill once again and skirts the edge of the gorge, at first in a westerly direction and then turning to the north. The route then hugs the shore of a river that leads then to Foyers Bay, a part of Loch Ness.
It was a pretty section of the circuit and, once again, we enjoyed the tranquility of fewer people. You don’t need to go far from the main attractions to then yourself in almost solitude.
We turned east around the headland that juts into Foyers Bay and continued along a flat section of woodland, still close to the loch’s water.
The views widened across the vast loch and we could see across to mountains on the other side.
The finals four or so kilometres took Claire and I on an undulating route that swapped from path, to tarmac to track and back to path.
The vistas were much more expansive on this part of the route and we were fortunate to be able to enjoy some warm sunshine.
Around 500m from our finish point back at the Inverfarigaig car park, Claire insisted we needed a loch dip! It was very refreshing although also very cold.
We had kept our running shoes on because the loch base was rocky and stony so the last part of the run was completed in sloshy footwear.
We met the B852, turned left and ran for a short section on the side of the road before turning right and back to the smaller road to the forest car park.
It was not a fast run but that wast the point. The aim was to enjoy a sunny afternoon in good company on a route within half an hour’s drive of Inverness.