It is regarded as the historic birthplace of Scottish tourism, with its views popularised by famous writers and poets in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Now the celebrated vistas of Loch Katrine, its islands and surrounding mountains are to be further enhanced with the installation of a “dramatic” new three-storey scenic tower and lookouts.
The Steamship Sir Walter Scott Trust, the charitable trust that looks after the recently restored 123-year-old SS Sir Walter Scott, has awarded a £350,000 contract to designers and specialist builders Creating Adventurous Places Ltd (CAP.Co) to construct the tower and lookouts with walkways above Trossachs Pier.
The installation of the scenic tower and lookouts marks the latest phase of the Trossachs Visitor Management & Scenic Viewpoints Projects being coordinated by the Steamship Trust with funding support from the Scottish Government's Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund, administered by VisitScotland which is designed to improve visitor facilities at busy tourist hotspots.
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It follows on from the completion of a hand-built stone path to the viewpoint with the help of helicopter lifts of bags of stone to protect the sensitive site as well as car park extensions and toilet improvements at Trossachs Pier.
The landmark lookout tower will feature two high-quality viewpoints with linking boardwalks on a headland above the Trossachs Pier visitor hub, known as Roderick Dhu Watchtower due to earlier associations with Rob Roy Macgregor, who lived on the shores of Loch Katrine.
James Fraser, CEO of Steamship Sir Walter Scott Trust said: "The recently completed path and the new scenic tower and lookouts will restore public access to this celebrated vista which has played such an important role in Scotland's rich history.
"In addition to Sir Walter Scott, other literary giants such as Coleridge and the Wordsworths visited wicker huts on the headland, made accessible by a road blasted out of rock in the 1790s and they were followed by many thousands of Victorian tourists that came to the site to enjoy the scenic wonders these famous writers so vividly described.
“We have carefully constructed a short path on what was the former old road, which has been overgrown for many years, allowing today's visitors to enjoy classic views of Loch Katrine. The viewpoint is a short walk and is more accessible than the nearby peaks of Ben A’an and Ben Venue, and the new tower and lookouts will ensure many more people can safely visit this great vantage point above Trossachs Pier.”
Since 1859, Loch Katrine has supplied millions of gallons of water daily to Glasgow and much of west and central Scotland. The Loch Katrine site is part of the Great Trossachs Forest and is in the ownership of Scottish Water.
Archie Macgregor, Land and Property Development Manager of Scottish Water has worked closely with the Steamship Sir Walter Scott Trust to enable this latest project to proceed.
He said: “As custodians of Loch Katrine and the surrounding catchment area I am pleased we were able to help the Steamship Trust to progress this latest heritage project above Trossachs Pier which follows on from other improvements in visitor facilities on our landholdings at this popular visitor location.
The Loch Katrine area has many special natural and cultural heritage qualities, and it is encouraging to see the Steamship Trust, working in close partnership with Scottish Water and others, delivering such high-quality improvements which will greatly enhance the visitor experience in safe and responsible ways.”
Simon Egan, Business Development Director of CAP.Co, which won a competitive tender to build the tower and walkways, said: "We are excited to be taking this project forward through the build stage and are delighted that our initial designs, which blend sensitively into the stunning landscape at this iconic site, have been widely welcomed by many community groups and individuals who strongly supported this imaginative scheme at the planning stage.
"We will be making use of a helicopter to transport materials to the site as part of our light-touch approach to building structures in this environmentally sensitive location, and we plan to complete the project before the end of the year so visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy the special views from 2024 onwards."
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