This out and back walk leads through the Glen Duror forest plantations to visit Taigh Seamus a' Ghlinne - an bothy said to be the birthplace of James of the Glen. James was hung after he was alledgedly framed in the legendary Appin murder - as described in Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel, Kidnapped.
Forest tracks and waymarked paths throughout; there is a reasonable amount of ascent
None.
Forestry car park, Glen Duror.
Turn off the A828 onto the minor road that leads past a campsite before ending with a small Forestry Commission parking area. The walk begins along the lower track which heads through the gate and is signed for the Birthplace of James of the Glen. Continue along this track for about two kilometres, ignoring other small tracks off to the left and right. The track is marked with yellow marker posts and the yellow Saltire symbol of the Stewarts of Appin. After crossing a concrete bridge, there is another signed junction.
The birthplace of James of the Glen, which is now a bothy, is visited by turning left uphill here (after visiting the bothy you will return to this point). The much smaller track winds as it climbs uphill and is marked with the yellow Saltires. Ignore a concrete bridge on the left (with a 3 ton limit) and continue on the track as the gradient begins to ease and finally becomes slightly downhill. Soon the track passes between two posts into a felled area with more open views; the slopes of Beinn a'Bheithir are on the left.
A short distance further on the bothy is reached; it is maintained by volunteers from the Mountain Bothy Association; please help by carrying out any rubbish you find here, and always follow the bothy code when visiting. James of the Glen was born here. He was the man who was wrongfully hung for the murder of a government tax inspector in this area in the years after the Jacobite rebellion. The true story formed the basis of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, Kidnapped.
Retrace your steps to return to the start; the formerly waymarked alternative route no longer exists.
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