Comrie

Why base here

Comrie is a village of 1,847 people by the 2022 census figure Understanding Scottish Places gives, at the western end of Strathearn where, Wikipedia notes, three rivers meet: the Earn, the Lednock and the Ruchill. Its old nickname, Wikipedia says, is the Shaky Toun. Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust records that the village postmaster and a shoemaker kept registers of the shocks that followed the earthquake of 23 October 1839, and that the Earthquake House at The Ross was built in 1874 for a seismoscope that never functioned; Historic Environment Scotland’s listing dates the building to 1875. The Highland Boundary Fault surfaces about 2km south of the village, the trust says, though the historical shocks seem to have come from the north.

The case for sleeping here is Glen Lednock, which runs north from the village to Ben Chonzie, and Loch Earn to the west. Ben Vorlich starts at Ardvorlich on the south shore of the loch, about 10 miles away by road, which is closer than Callander. St Fillans, at the east end of Loch Earn 5 miles up the A85, is nearer still, and is on the eastern boundary of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, in the park authority’s own words.

On foot versus by car

The Deil’s Cauldron starts at the School Road car park in the village. Walkhighlands gives 7.5km and 270m of ascent in two to three hours on waymarked woodland paths: up the Lednock past the Little Cauldron, along a fenced walkway to the gorge where the river comes out in a double cascade, and back over the Shaky Bridge, which was replaced in 2024. The optional climb to the Melville Monument on Dun More is steeper and rougher; the obelisk is James Gillespie Graham’s of 1812, to Henry Dundas, Historic Environment Scotland records, and Walkhighlands puts Ben Vorlich and Stùc a’ Chròin in its view. The Water of Ruchill circuit, 6.75km with 30m of ascent, follows the river south past Cultybraggan, a prisoner-of-war camp built in 1941 whose Nissen huts the village bought in a community buy-out in 2007, the Scottish Archaeological Research Framework says.

Ben Chonzie needs a lift up the glen. Walkhighlands starts it at the parking area opposite the old school at Coishavachan: 12.5km and 712m of ascent in four to five hours, an easier ascent by Munro standards on a track and then moorland where the path is indistinct in places and careful navigation is needed on the return. The nearest bus is at Comrie. Ben Vorlich is a drive too: Walkhighlands gives 14.5km and 1,145m of ascent with Stùc a’ Chròin, informal verge parking at Ardvorlich and no public transport to the start, though buses run to St Fillans. From St Fillans itself, Walkhighlands’ Loch Earn viewpoint walk climbs 300m on good tracks to look down the length of the loch.

Practicalities

There is no railway. Wikipedia records that the line to Lochearnhead closed in 1951 and the branch from Crieff in 1964. Comrie Community Council names Stagecoach routes 15 and 15A from Perth as the village’s bus service, through Crieff and on to St Fillans, with Perth Bus Station as the connection to trains; Gleneagles is the nearest station by road. The A85 runs through the village from Crieff to St Fillans and on to Lochearnhead, and Perth and Kinross Council lists the School Road car park as free.

With children

The Deil’s Cauldron is the one to bring them on. Walkhighlands describes the Little Cauldron loop as well fenced and the path above the gorge as a wooden walkway fenced against the drop, and the steep climb to the monument can be left out by staying on the road. The Water of Ruchill circuit is the flat alternative, an earth path beside the river with a short stretch on the B827, with a short detour to a prehistoric stone circle, and passes the camp at Cultybraggan, where the first hut is a heritage centre. In St Fillans the viewpoint walk passes the village playpark on the way down.