Undiscovered Scotland

 

In her introduction to this lovely little book, the author describes the Trossachs as "world famous but surprisingly difficult to define". For those who don't know the country well, think of a beautiful upland area some twenty miles north of Glasgow and lying between Loch Lomond to the west and Stirling to the east. This places the Trossachs within easy reach of a large proportion of Scotland's population: and readily accessible to many visitors to the country as one of the main routes from central Scotland to the Highlands, the A84, passes along its north-eastern side.

How should you go about getting to know the Trossachs better? That's where this book comes in. Beautifully produced, nicely written and - very obviously - well researched, "15 Short Walks in the Trossachs - Callander and Aberfoyle" by Katie Featherstone does exactly what the title leads you to expect. It does a lot more, too. I'll come to the written content in a moment, but as you flick through the book the first thing that leaps out at you is the superb quality of the author's colour photography. The illustrations really help bring the Trossachs to life, giving a clear idea of the variety of landscapes on offer and, above all else, their beauty.

The 15 short walks, each of between 3km and 14km, are clustered around Callander, Loch Achray and Aberfoyle. Taken together they give a great sense of what the area has to offer. Amongst those include are walks to Bracklinn Falls, Callander Crags, Loch Katrine, Ben A'an, Primrose Hill and Fairy Knowe. Each walk description includes high quality full colour 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey mapping that is clear enough to give you all the guidance you need, supported by a detailed description and the ability to download GPX files. There is also an introductory section at the front and useful information at the back. This is an excellent guide that we'd highly recommend to anyone living near or intending to pass through the area: and it's one we'll be taking with us the next time we head out in that direction!