Navigating the West Highland Way (for dummies)
I’m going to tell you a secret.
I could’ve written this headline without ‘for dummies’ in it and the rest of the article would have been exactly the same.
Navigating the West Highland Way is so easy that it doesn’t matter whether or not you are a dummy. Whether or not you have the fanciest maps or the most expensive compasses. Whether you have been trained by the SAS or the Navy Seals or a YouTube video.
The only thing that matters is whether or not you can spot these markers.
Once you’ve made your way to Milngavie (or Fort William if you’re doing it backwards. I’m not going to tell you how to get there, I’m giving you some credit) then all you need to do is follow the waymarkers.
Sometimes there are even proper signposts with words on them (West Highland Way to the left!), but mostly it is the little markers with the thistle on them.
If you keep an eye out for them then you should be fine.
Obviously, none of this is to say that you should go entirely without maps, or looking at the route beforehand, or saving it on your phone.
If the weather is bad or it gets dark then you’re going to want those as a backup, but for the most part you’ll get by fine even if you think North is one of Kanye West’s kids.
For the maps, I recommend the OS App, or AllTrails, which is what I personally used. GPS coverage is pretty good throughout the trail, so if you pre-save the routes before setting off then you will be able to see exactly where you are along the way.
This is perhaps more useful than the navigation, because you’ll be able to see how far you’ve gone (and more importantly how far you have left).
There was only one point on the route that caused us trouble, and I have written about it in more detail here, but I’ll summarise it again.
We approached a signpost which said Crianlarich was to the right. My map on AllTrails said that we were to go into it and then come straight back up. We weren’t sure if it was part of the official route (hence my helpful article), but eventually decided it was not and cut that portion out, saving a decent amount of climbing.
Anyway, I’ve been going on a bit now, so I’ll wrap things up.
If you’re worried about getting lost on the West Highland Way then I’ll say that there is no need to.
- The signposts are clear and obvious;
- There will probably be enough people around to help you out if you think you’ve gone wrong
- You don’t need to buy an expensive compass
Good luck, here’s that marker again.
