Wullie Davidson Bus Pass Rambles: Walk to Steall Falls in Glen Nevis

Home » Travel » Wullie Davidson: Blogging about Bus Pass Jaunts in Scotland » Wullie Davidson Bus Pass Rambles: Walk to Steall Falls in Glen Nevis

Wullie Davidson Bus Pass Rambles: Walk to Steall Falls in Glen Nevis

Today’s trip (9th July, 2026) would take me back to Fort William, to do a walk from the Lower Falls car park, in Glen Nevis, to Steall Falls, regarded as the second or third highest waterfall in the UK. The walk’s about 5 miles, there and back. The 0750 Citylink bus took just over 3 hours to make the trip, with a 10 minute stopover in Tyndrum. I’d have about an hour and a half in Fort William, before getting the bus for a 20 minute trip down Glen Nevis to the Lower Falls car park, where the walk begins.

Fort William Bus

I used the time to get a double cheeseburger from MacDonald’s, then a visit to the West Highland museum, just off Fort William’s main street. It’s a great wee museum, and well worth a visit.

West Highland Museum

The 42 bus left the bus station at 1230, arriving at the Lower Falls car park at 1250. The road continues on as a single track, too narrow for buses. Many people do the walk from the end of the road, cutting the distance in half, but parking spaces here are limited, so many will park at the Lower Falls car park, and do the walk from there. You can either walk on the road, joining the track at the end of the road, or take the much more scenic path up the side of the river, starting about 100 yards up the road from the car park. It joins up with the path from the end of the road at ‘Paddy’s bridge’ I chose the path and for the first half mile, was glad I did, as it was easy walking, and you got a real sense of being ‘in the wilds’. Second half, not so much. It was mostly uphill, more rugged, and much muddier.

mud steall falls walk

After Paddy’s bridge, it got even more rugged and muddier. The Fort William area is the wettest in the UK, and I ought to have done some research about current conditions. Anyone thinking of doing the walk should pick a spell after a prolonged rainless period. Wear suitable boots, and just plough through the mud, rather than continually trying to circumvent it, as I did. It doesn’t get much better away from the path, and it just drains your energy, trying to avoid it.

Paddy’s Bridge

I saw about two dozen other walkers on the route, including a Japanese family of four returning. They were all smiles, and didn’t seem stressed out at all by the conditions, which made me feel like a right wuss. To get to the falls, you have to cross the river on a single wire ‘bridge’ which, from reading accounts by others, is very shaky, and quite daunting, even for youngsters. At the start, I had been looking forward to trying it out, but as the energy drained out of me, I became less enthusiastic. About a quarter mile from the falls, I decided to just get a long distance photo and head back. When I got back to Paddy’s bridge, I took the road back to the Lower Falls car park. It was all downhill, and I was grateful for that.

What struck me most about Steall Falls is that it’s not my idea of what I’d call a ‘waterfall’. I’ve always thought that a waterfall is where a river comes to a cliff, and the water falls of the edge. Steall falls is a stream on a very steep gradient, so I’m not sure that qualifies as a waterfall. But, ‘Steall stream on a steep slope’ might not have the same attraction for visitors.

lower falls

The wildlife bit – I had quite a bit of time to hang around the Lower Falls car park, before the bus arrived at 1700, so decided to keep an eye out for red squirrels. I’ve never seen one, and it’s become a kind of bucket list thing with me. Still no luck, though. What I did see was just as good – a pair of ravens. That was the first time I’d seen a raven, and I saw a pair of them It’s quite possible that I’ve seen them at a distance in the past, but wasn’t able to identify them. They’re twice the weight of carrion crows, but just 40% longer, so the difference between them isn’t massive, and even an expert would have difficulty identifying them at distance. One of the pair landed about 40 feet away from me, and there’s no doubt that it was a raven.

handbook of british birds

Ravens used to be common in both lowland areas and towns, but persecution saw them confined to the wilder upland areas, although they have made a remarkable comeback to their former haunts in the last 50 years. My RSPB Handbook of British Birds states that there are around 9,500 pairs of ravens in the UK, compared with 1,050,000 pairs of carrion crows. So, the population of carrion crows is more than 100 times that of ravens. In the Fort William area, carrion crows are replaced by hooded crows, which have light grey bodies. They are the same species, but a different race. They can interbreed and produce hybrids. If you’d like to get into birds, the RSPB book is highly recommended. You’ll get it a little cheaper on Amazon.

The only other notable wildlife sighting was a flock of several dozen Canada geese in a field adjoining Loch Lomond.

Wullie Davidson, July, 2026