Designed by Thomas Telford, the canal was built between 1803 and 1822. It has four aqueducts over burns, 29 canal gates (known as locks) and 10 bridges. It is a voyage at nearly sea level, with great scenery all the way and the added safety of a canal. The route is 60 miles long (96.6km), of which 22 miles (35.4km) is man made. The trip begins near Corpach, Fort William in the west and some 60 miles later, taking in three of Scotland’s freshwater Loch's... Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and Loch Ness, reaches Inverness in the East, Scotland’s newest city and capital of the Highlands.

Starting at the top of Neptunes Staircase at Banavie, the trip begins with a leisurely paddle along the canal to get us tuned into our new surroundings before we venture out into our first Loch later in the day. Passing through the swing bridge at the settlement at Moy and finally the swing bridge and Lock gate at Gairlochy, its time to “portage” the canoe for the first time. This is a technique where the canoe is taken from the water and put on top of a purpose made two wheeled trolley, wheeled past the obstacle then put back in the water to continue.

Gairlochy is the entry point into Loch Lochy and it is here we get our first taste of open water. Hugging the shoreline we get our first glimpse of some of the best scenery Scotland has to offer and no better place to experience it than from the open water! As we continue over the next three days we pass through various points of interest such as, the site of the Clan Battle of the Shirts in 1544 near Laggan Locks. From the Lock gates at Laggan we reach the smallest Loch we pass through, Loch Oich. Looking west across Loch Oich it may be possible to glimpse the ruins of Invergarry Castle, once the seat of the MacDonells, and like many of the Great Glen clans, they supported the Jacobite cause. Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed there twice, and the castle was burned after the battle of Culloden.

Loch Oich comes to an end at Abercalder Swing Bridge where we once again join the canal for a scenic paddle into Fort Augustus passing by the delightful Kytra and Cullochy Locks. Arriving in historic Fort Augustus you may catch sight of the grand, imposing Abbey, which housed Benedictine monks until very recently. Loch Ness begins from Fort Augustus and stretches for a full 22.5 miles, and holds more fresh water than the whole of England and Wales put together, with some points of the Loch being deeper than the North Sea

Eventually Loch Ness leads us back into the canal and the short journey into Inverness, our final destination on Scotland’s north east coast.

Our trip begins on Thursday afternoon at one of our designated pick up points in Glasgow, from here we make our way by minibus to our accommodation in Fort William.

Distance: 16 miles (25.6km)

Fort William to Corriegour

Our second day begins with breakfast and a short trip along to our start point on the canal at Neptunes Staircase. Here we have a short talk on safety and an intro to the open canoe, followed by a practise to get everyone familiar with their new mode of transport. After all the formalities, we can get our voyage to Inverness underway, with two individuals to each canoe to share the work load, it should make a pleasurable journey. Day one takes us past the swing bridge at Moy, followed soon afterwards with the swing bridge and Lock gate at Gairloch before entering Loch Lochy. Hopefully with the wind at our back (as it normally is) we should make good progress to our finishing point at Corriegour on the east shore of Loch Lochy. From here our transport will be waiting to take us to our first nights accommodation at Loch Lochy youth hostel.

Distance: 13 miles (20.8km)

Corriegour to Fort Augustus

We start our day back at our finishing point at Corriegour and complete our journey on Loch Lochy to reach the lock gates at Laggan. At this point we have to portage our canoes again to re enter the canal, from Laggan it’s a short distance before we pass under the swing bridge at North Laggan and enter Loch Oich. A short and narrow Loch it passes us by quite quickly, but gives splendid views on both sides with Invergarry castle showing through the trees on the west bank. As we move out of Loch Oich we pass under Abercalder swing bridge and back into the canal before we have negotiate the Cullochy Lock gate. As we move on from Cullochy we handrail the river Oich which is just out of site to our left before reaching the last lock of the day at Kytra, so once again its out with the canoes and on with our journey into Fort Augustus. Again our transport will be here to take us back to our accommodation at Loch Ness hostel.

Distance: 16 miles (25.6km)

Fort Augustus to Drumnadrochit

Day four starts with avoiding the series of lock gates that dominate the centre of Fort Augustus, therefore we begin our day at the entrance to Loch Ness. As we move out of the shelter of the canal you will be amazed by the vast expanse of water ahead of you that stretches as fas as the eye can see. We set off hugging the shoreline of the west bank, and continue with this throughout the day until our support turns up with our tea and coffee! Fortunately we split Loch Ness into two days due to its length and aim to finish just past the well known Urquart castle at Drumnadrochit, where yet again we will be met by our transport that will take us back to our second nights stay at Loch Ness hostel.

Distance: 15 miles (24.0km)

Drumnadrochit to Inverness

The final days paddling! Once again we set off hugging the shoreline on Loch Ness and continue with this until we leave the Loch and move back into the shelter of the canal past Lochend and Bona lighthouse. After Bona lighthouse we enter the small Loch Dochfour which after a short distance begins to narrow into the man made canal and the weir off to the right which flows into the River Ness. Eventually we come to the last of the canal gates, to negotiate round at Dochgarroch. This final stretch sees us into the last leg of our voyage across Scotland and to finish at our final destination of Inverness! The last formality of the day is to present the certificates of completion to everyone before the transport takes us to our overnight stay in Inverness’s five star hostel. From here we can enjoy a nice evening meal and night out in this bustling Highland city!

All accommodation is provided by The Scottish Youth Hostel Association, which are of a very high standard of comfort and cleanliness. This type of accommodation involves small groups sharing.

Packed lunches are distributed every morning prior to each days paddle and will contain whatever you requested on your daily lunch form. All evening meals will be a set 2 course meal with a couple of menu choices (inc vegetarian options) these will be provided by the local hotels and inns along our route, transport between these locations will be provided each day. Breakfast will be continental each morning i.e. cereal, toast, fruit juice etc.

All of our canoe guides are highly motivated, experienced paddlers and qualified first aiders. They offer both experience and encouragement, as well as sharing their great sense of humour, you really couldn't be in better hands!

We will supply a two man open canoe, paddles, spare paddles, lifejackets, throw lines, portage trolleys. We will also supply a recommended kit list of what personal kit and clothing to bring along.

Transport will always be on hand during the trip. Its main role is to transport us to any outlying accommodation that we may be staying in the evening, and for the movement of luggage to each overnight location. It is also there for safety reasons should anyone retire medically, or for any other reason. The guides are in contact at all times with the transport through radio communications should it be required. At certain locations along the route, we have the transport meet us to serve tea, coffee or orange juice, and let us replenish our water bottles. And not forgetting our transport back to Glasgow!