Devil’s Staircase Show path on map

Start location: Kings House Hotel ( NN 259 546 )

End location: Wades Road, Kinlochmore, Kinlochleven ( NN 191 619 )

Geographical area: Lochaber

Path distance: 13km

Accessibility info: Suitable for bikes, Suitable for pedestrians

Route Description

Leaving the Kingshouse, cross the River Etive by the old bridge and head north then west to within 300m of the A82. There pick up the Old Military Road which runs to the northeast of its replacement along the foot of Beinn a’ Chrulaiste. Just to the west of Altnafeadh, start climbing north-northwest up the Devil’s Staircase, a fine section of the Old Military Road with easy gradients and a series of well-engineered zigzags, to reach the highest point. On the north slope, the path makes a long easy descent across the hillside to join the access road to the Blackwater Reservoir. Follow the track down, crossing the bridge at NN192618 to reach Wades Road in Kinlochmore.

OS Landranger 41 (Ben Nevis, Fort William & surrounding area)

Heritage Information

The Old Military Road was constructed around 1750, largely on the line of the original drove road, with occasional deviations. The Devil's Staircase's period of military use though was relatively brief, as it was abandoned in 1785 in favour of the military road built through Glencoe to Invercoe. Fortunately, as Thomas Pennant's A Tour In Scotland 1769 coincided with its active use, we have a contemporary description: "Immediately after leaving Kinloch Leven the mountains soar to a far greater height than before, the sides are covered with wood, and the bottoms of the glens filled with torrents that roar amid the loose stones. After a ride of two miles begin to ascend ... on a steep road, which continues almost to the summit, and is certainly the highest public road in Great Britain. On the other side the descent is scarce a mile, but it is very rapid down a zig-zag way. Reach the King's House, seated in a plain: it was built for the accommodation of His Majesty's troops, in their march through this desolate country, but is in a manner unfurnished."

Kingshouse claims to be the oldest inn site in Scotland and ARB Haldane describes it as a key point on the drove road network. Despite Pennant's explanation of the inn's origins, it clearly had a bad reputation - in William Thomson's A Tour of Scotland in 1785, the inn is referred to as a cursed place and is described thus: "This house is so ill-attended to by the old rascal who lives in it, that there is not a bed fit to sleep in, nor anything to eat, notwithstanding that he has it rent-free, and is allowed nine pounds per annum by Government". This does not appear to have been an isolated bad review - in the early years of the nineteenth century, it was reportedly described as wretched by Dorothy Wordsworth and likened to a hog stye by James Donaldson, Surveyor of Military Roads.

Altnafeadh at the foot of the Devil's Staircase is another former cattle drover's stance.

Since 1980, the Devil's Staircase has formed part of the West Highland Way. Other historic routes with links to the West Highland Way include the Bankie Trek, the Crianlarich Military Road, the Old Glencoe Road, the Drove Road to Callert Ferry and the Military Road to Fort William.

In autumn 2020, BBC Scotland's Landward programme caught up with ScotWays in and around Kinlochleven to talk about its 175 year history of upholding public access, and in particular its work signposting routes. The guide posts for several rights of way made an appearance; as well as this Heritage Path, the Military Road to Fort William and the Coffin Road from Glen Etive by the Lairig Eilde both featured