Taynuilt

Taynuilt stands on the River Nant about a kilometre before it meets Loch Etive at Airds Bay, at the western entrance to the Pass of Brander, and Wikipedia gives it about 800 residents. Undiscovered Scotland derives the name from the Gaelic for “house by the stream”. The village is older than its tourism: Wikipedia records the Bonawe ironworks, founded in 1753, as employing up to 600 charcoal burners in the woods round about, and names nearby Ardchattan Priory as the venue in 1308 for the last Scottish Parliament held in Gaelic.

Why base here

The case for Taynuilt is narrow, and it is better to say so. It is the nearest village with a railway station, a post office and a doctor’s surgery, all listed by Wikipedia, to Ben Cruachan, which Walkhighlands describes as the highest summit of the range between Loch Awe and Loch Etive, and the Gazetteer for Scotland places Falls of Cruachan station 5½ miles east-southeast of the village. This site lists no gentler outing that starts from Taynuilt itself, and its next nearest walks, Buachaille Etive Mòr and The Cobbler, start roughly 33 and 39km away measured between start points. A week of varied hill days belongs at Glencoe; Taynuilt suits one long day on Cruachan and a base that is quiet the rest of the time.

On foot versus by car

Ben Cruachan does not start in Taynuilt. The walk begins by Falls of Cruachan station, under the railway, and climbs through woodland to the dam above the power station, which is built into the mountain; Walkhighlands gives the circuit as 13.75km with 1,376m of ascent in eight to nine hours.

Without a car there is one way to reach the start: the train. Wikipedia says Falls of Cruachan station is open only from March to October, that trains stop there in daylight alone because the platform has no lighting, and that it has no car park and no ticket sales. A nine-hour walk and a daylight-only platform leave little slack, so the return train matters more here than on most hill days. By car, Walkhighlands warns that the visitor centre at the power station can no longer be used for parking, and names the rough layby by the station and the proper one about 700m further towards Oban.

On foot from the village itself there is Bonawe Historic Iron Furnace on the north side. Historic Environment Scotland calls it the most complete charcoal-fuelled ironworks left in Britain, and says it ran almost continuously for over 120 years. The site is seasonal and takes timed bookings online. Wikipedia also notes day trips on Loch Etive from Kelly’s Pier.

Practicalities

ScotRail runs Taynuilt station, which opened on 1 July 1880 when the Callander and Oban Railway was extended from Dalmally to Oban. Wikipedia lists step-free access, bike racks and a car park beside platform 1, and no ticket office: tickets are bought in advance or from the guard. Trains run to Glasgow Queen Street and Oban, and ScotRail’s timetable, not this page, is the place to read their times. Wikivoyage also lists Citylink coaches from Glasgow Buchanan stopping at the village crossroads; Citylink publishes the current routes.

Wikipedia lists a post office, a grocery store and a doctor’s surgery on the main street. The sources read for this page do not give a petrol station or cash machine in the village, so Oban, the town to the west on the A85, is the one to plan around for a full shop.