THEY are some of the most popular attractions in Scotland but have suffered wear and tear from the increasing numbers of visitors enjoying the sites in recent years.
But now a raft of improvements to infrastructure across Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park is to begin this month, ahead of what is expected to be another busy visitor season.
A complete upgrade of the Conic Hill path, a replacement bridge at Bracklinn Falls and a plan to improve the popular Tarbet Pier picnic site all feature in this initial phase of the National Park Authority’s programme of investment in visitor facilities.
The National Park saw unprecedented numbers of visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic and numbers remained high in 2022 as people continued to enjoy the places they had discovered during lockdown. Foreign tourists also returned.
Read More: Ultimate pathway to success took 22 years of dedication in Torridon
The first stage of a £900,000 package of works to repair and improve the path on Conic Hill, Balmaha, begins this week.
At Bracklinn Falls in Callander, installation of a replacement bridge is in progress.
On West Loch Lomond, at the busy Tarbet Pier picnic site, a planning application is underway for significant improvements in coming years, including the establishment of a sustainable travel hub.
Stuart Mearns, director of place at Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, said: “The national park is one of Scotland’s most popular visitor destinations and alongside ongoing work to support visitors, land managers and communities during the peak season, we’re developing longer term plans to improve visitor services and infrastructure.
“These plans include upgraded facilities, paths and access routes, as well as projects which will over time ease visitor pressures and enable car-free travel.
“This month, projects in some of our busiest locations, at Conic Hill, Tarbet and Bracklinn Falls, have all taken significant steps forward, helping prepare us for what we expect to be another very busy visitor season ahead.
“For each of these projects, and indeed any development work within the national park, gains for climate and nature are vital.
“Providing a quality path on Conic Hill will help protect the area adjacent to the path and the important habitats and species to be found there.
“At Tarbet, while we make structural improvements to alleviate visitor pressures, we will also be improving biodiversity at the site and helping visitors embrace low-emission travel.
“Beyond these three projects, we continue to review priorities for future investment throughout the park and for ways we can encourage, and collaborate with partners to upgrade their visitor sites.”
Read More: How walkers in trainers are damaging Ben Lomond's fragile landscape
The package of works to repair and improve the path on Conic Hill, Balmaha, will be delivered over the next three years. Conic Hill is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of visitors every year and the path is badly degraded.
The volume of visitors now being seen has led to the need for the path to be widened and strengthened to ensure the hill can continue to be enjoyed in the years to come. The first phase of these works begins this week, with the path now closed until 31st March.
A planning application has this month been submitted for a £1.5m package of works in Tarbet, part of a masterplan developed with local people and businesses.
The picnic site was originally built for day visitors, but as visitor numbers rise, combined with the growing popularity of campervans and motorhomes, it needs upgraded.
Read More: How work to restore a mountain landscape has brought species flocking back
Improvements to the pier, space for community events, helicopter access for Mountain Rescue, and expanded visitor facilities such as toilets and café are also planned in the years to come.
Work is also underway to install a replacement Bracklinn Bridge at the popular Bracklinn Falls site in Callander.
The replacement bridge will provide a safe place to view the spectacular falls and will be in place ahead of the 2023 visitor season, together with benches, safety barriers and information panels sharing the history and culture of the area.
More than 70,000 people visit Bracklinn Falls every year.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here