Benmore Botanic Garden

Located between Dunoon and Loch Eck the Garden was once part of an extensive plant and painting collector called James Duncan land and was first Established in 1863.

The garden covers around 120 acres and boasts Giant Redwoods that stand over fifty metres high and over one hundred and fifty years old as well as over three hundred species of rhododendron and over one third of the world’s conifer species.

Victorian Fernery

Outside of the Botanic Garden is a large car park with plenty of space for coaches and cars in order to enter the garden visitors must pay a small fee at the gift shop:

• Adult £6
• Concession £5
• Under 16s free of charge

One of the amazing views

The garden is open for the majority of the year, only closing November – February. The best time to go to these gardens is on a dry day as you will be doing a lot of walking if you plan to see it all. When we went it was on an extremely warm day and even though there were plenty of trees that provided shade we still ended up sunburned. That did not ruin the day though as we managed to cover the majority of the locations on the map that you are supplied with on admittance. If you were to visit this place it would be in your best interest to stick to the map and paths as due to the size of the place it is incredibly easy to become lost. If you do happen to get lost there are plenty of maps posted throughout the garden informing you of your current location.

Stuart inside the Victorian Fernery

While we were walking around the garden we seen plenty of wildlife however they were difficult to capture on camera. We did manage to get pictures of newts and crickets.

One of the many crickets we spotted

Due to the majority of the visitors being elderly we found that a lot of the walks were empty and peaceful as they tended to stay near the entrance were the ponds and benches are located. So if you ever find yourself in this area the Benmore Botanic Garden would be worth your time.

If you want to see more images please visit the Gallery page.

Glendaruel Long Walks

In Glendaruel there is no shortage when it comes to local walks. In this section I will tell you about three long walks that are worth checking out if you plan to stay in Glendaruel for the day.

Lovers Walk

If you exit through the back entrance of the Caravan Park you will see a wooden fence and on the other side there is a wooded area. If you enter through the gate there are two walks that are located here.
The Lovers Walk is a small walk which takes around thirty minutes to complete and it is maintained by the local grounds keeper whose house is right beside the walk. As you are walking up the start of the path you can see into the grounds keeper’s garden which has a large variety of weird things inside for example the last year when I stayed at the Caravan Park I seen that he had a large plastic Gorilla sitting beside a large tree.
At the top of the hill there is a large natural pool that visitors often use during the hottest days of summer and this is called “The ladies bathing pool”

Ladies Bathing Pool

This walk is used regularly by dog walkers and families are welcome to use it just as long as they clean up any mess that they make.

Me and my dog Sid 

The park

If you have children with you and you want to take them somewhere else to play rather than staying in the Caravan Park all day. If you walk for thirty minutes west of the Caravan Park there is a children’s park which was actually funded by the National Lottery. The park is in good condition and is right beside the Col-Glen Shinty clubs field and the local school.

View of Col-Glen Shinty clubs field

There are a few picnic benches located here so families could easily spend the whole day here getting to know locals and also depending on what day it is they can watch a game of Shinty.

Lochan Chuilceachan Footpath

At the highest peak of Lovers Walk there is a dirt path that looks like it leads to a farm. If you follow that you reach a field and throughout this field are signposts that you follow in order to keep on the right path. I would not recommend this walk if you have young children as it is a 2.5km long walk and in order to complete it and walk back I would advise you to start early in the morning as it takes around 2 hours each way and wrap up because it is very cold at the top of the hill. This walk is also ideal for dogs however, it would be a good idea to keep them on a leash at all times as you pass sheep and cattle. When you reach the end of the walk you can see Glen to the Kyles of Bute and over the Glen to the windfarm at Cruach Mhor.

Sign for Lochan Chuilceachan Footpath

For more pictures please visit the Gallery.