Paddling in Lochaber

A wealth of Whitewater rivers can be found in the Fort William area.
They are best explored as 3 distinct groups: The rivers around FortWilliam; Glen Coe & Glen Etive; and the rivers of Glen Spean.

The rivers around Fort William
From a paddlers point of view, Fort William is very much the capital of the Wet West Coast of Scotland. With rainfall recorded here on an average of 250 days per year, it is easy to see why. The rivers here are generally spate runs which are quick to rise and fall, some times frighteningly so! If you are unlucky and find dry conditions then perhaps Glen Spean to the north or Glen Etive to the south will be a better bet. When the rains come and the rivers rise the white-water paddler is spoilt for choice. Go scare yourself on the Upper Nevis or Alt Chaig, or try a more controlled trip on the Loy or Arkaig. There is something here to suit all tastes.

Glen Coe & Glen Etive
Surely the home of Scottish Steep Creeking. Glen Coe and Glen Etive offer between them some of the finest burn bashing to be found in Scotland. To get the most from this area you will need to be adapt in the art of short boat paddling and also not be adverse to the odd bit of shouldering your boat.

The waters of the Rivers Leven and Coe offer excellent and challenging grade 5 boating while the many tributaries of the river Etive feature some fine rock bashing action. That said the falls on the Middle Etive are not as daunting as they look and the Upper and lower sections on the Etive mean that there is something here for everyone.

In times of low water the middle Etive is usually scrapeable but the area comes into its own when the small burns are running. In very high flows try the Lower Coe or perhaps the Coupall, you'll have a blast.

Glen Spean
The Spean is by far the biggest river in this "neck of the woods". It offers paddling at all water levels. In even the driest conditions you can enjoy navigating the narrow bedrock channels of the Spean Gorge and in times of extreme flood there is plenty of action to be had on the Upper Spean as the Laggan dam releases its watery load. The many tributaries of the Spean also provide great runs. The Roy is the most popular, and deservedly so but check out the Treig and Cour, fantastic in the right water conditions.

Further information and detailed river descriptions are available in the form of a river guidebook 'Scottish Whitewater' produced by the Scottish Canoe Association Tel 0131-317-7314 or e-mail enquiry@scot-canoe.org

http://www.scot-canoe.org/access/guidebook.htm