Fortingall and MacGregor's Leap

The walk begins by Fortingall's church (reconstructed in 1902). Near the entrance, a 1774 tombstone bears skull and crossbones motifs. Left of the stone stands the famous Fortingall Yew, estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 years old (making it one of Europe's oldest living things). Protected by a fence and stone pillars, it overhangs the burial ground of the Stewarts of Garth (descendants of Alexander Stewart, son of King Robert II).

Leaving the village past three triangles of standing stones, the path winds along country lanes overhung with pine, birch, oak, beech, and rowan. Crossing the 18th-century Bridge of Lyon, you follow the sparkling River Lyon into the entrance of Glen Lyon.

Just off the lane down a wooded slope is MacGregor's Leap, a dramatic rock-strewn chasm where Rob Roy MacGregor — leader of the outlawed Clan Gregor — made a legendary leap into the foaming River Lyon during a narrow escape from his enemies.

Returning to Fortingall, you pass Glenlyon House (built in the 1720s for a relative of Robert Campbell, instigator of the Glencoe Massacre) and Carn na Marbh (the cairn of the dead, commemorating 14th-century plague victims).

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.