New West Highland Way finish to be officially opened

Celebrations are planned for Saturday 11 September to coincide with the official opening of the new finish point for Scotland’s most famous long distance walk. Walkers are being invited to take part in a ‘last mile’ walk from the old end point to the new finish in Fort William’s main square.

The 96-mile long distance route from Milngavie on the outskirts of Glasgow to Fort William ended at the busy roundabout at the entrance to Glen Nevis. The finish features sculptures and a seating area which is already proving popular with walkers, tourists and locals. The works, which include a giant statue of a seated walker on a bench resting his sore feet, complete the ‘Routes West’ Fort William town centre enhancement project.

Gordon Forrester, manager for the West Highland Way told the BBC: “Walkers completing the route felt a great sense of anticlimax after completing what was an inspirational walk.

“There was no great sense of arrival, finishing beside a glorified road sign. The new end has a Caithness stone map of the route, benches to sit on and a sculpture to have your picture taken with. The backdrop is now of Loch Linnhe and Ardnamurchan rather than traffic.”

The celebrations start on Saturday with a “last mile” walk where the Edinburgh Postal and Lochaber Pipe Bands will lead walkers along the last mile. The walk will set off from the Ben Nevis Woollen Mill at 1:30pm and will be followed by a series of events including Highland Dancing and a ceilidh which will start 2:30pm in Gordon Square.

Everyone who has ever walked the West Highland Way is being invited to take part in the walk and a wide range of West Highland Way representatives are also expected to attend, including civic representatives from all the areas the West Highland Way passes through. Everyone is welcome to join in the celebrations and official opening taking place in Gordon Square from 2pm, with people being encouraged to bring their own musical instruments for the ceilidh.

The West Highland Way remains Scotland’s most popular long distance walking route with over 50,000 people tackling the route each year. For detailed descriptions, maps and GPS downloads for the entire route and links to other long distance routes click here.