As one of Scotland’s most important natural and historical places, we want people from all walks of life to be able to visit Glencoe and immerse themselves in the incredible scenery and stories.
We’ve made some fantastic improvements to the visitor experience at Glencoe, always with the aim of having the lightest environmental footprint possible, to ensure we care for what we love and open up access to our places in a sustainable way.
Glencoe Visitor Centre has won awards for its eco-friendly design. The buildings – laid out as a traditional Highland ‘clachan’ – are raised off the ground to allow tree roots, wildflowers and groundwater to remain undisturbed. The centre is built from wooden materials, with various sustainable features such as a wood-chip boiler, eco-friendly insulation and a natural spring water supply.
Along with the visitor centre, we’ve made sustainable improvements across Glencoe NNR. Our café serves takeaway items in plant-based, compostable packaging, and our shop carrier bags are made from sugar cane. We’re proud to work with Scottish suppliers in our café and shop. Our car parks have also been designed to reduce some of the pressure that visitor popularity has on the glen.
The Glencoe Greenway
Our latest project at Glencoe, the Greenway, is building a shared-use path for local people and visitors that will allow them to walk, cycle or wheel into the heart of the glen from the west, without taking the hazardous route along the narrow verge of the A82.
We’re building 2km of a new, all-ability pathway from the visitor centre to the An Torr and Signal Rock car park, where it will connect with existing paths into the glen. We’re also upgrading 2km of existing paths from the visitor centre towards Glencoe village.
The Greenway will complete the circular traffic-free ‘Glencoe Orbital Recreation Trail’ between Glencoe village, Glencoe Visitor Centre, and the old road to Glencoe village via the Clachaig Inn – this project has been an aspiration of both the Trust and the local community for years.
Positive impacts
The Glencoe Greenway project will bring positive benefits for the local community, visitors, the Trust and the land itself for years to come.
- For the first time, people will be able to walk, cycle, push a buggy or take a wheelchair on a traffic-free path to Glencoe from the west. This will make it easier for a more diverse range of visitors to come and enjoy this spectacular landscape.
- We’re encouraging car-free enjoyment of the glen, reducing carbon emissions as well as the pressure of vehicle use on the landscape and on local communities who live here year round.
- New paths provide more opportunities to share the stories of Glencoe, with track-side signs and interpretation. We can also share the work we’re doing as a charity to help nature flourish across the NNR.
- The new path has been designed to minimise its impact, including visual impact, on Glencoe’s scenic landscape.
You can help!
- Arrive by bike or public transport and get a free hot drink in our café as a thank you. Show us a valid ticket or your bike helmet.
- We recycle waste and ask you to do the same. Sort carefully to avoid everything having to be binned.
- In our visitor centre toilets, please dispose of toilet roll only in toilets to avoid blockages. Please also be patient when flushing our toilets. Cisterns will take a while to refill at busy times. We have our own water system, powered by water from the hills and naturally filtered without chemicals before going back to the River Coe.
As part of our mission to conserve and protect Scotland’s heritage, our strategy – Nature, Beauty & Heritage for Everyone – sets out the Trust’s ambitions for the decade to come. These ambitions are based on three pillars of activity:
- Conservation
- Engagement
- Sustainability
With objectives ranging from becoming carbon negative by 2031 to increasing our visitors to 6 million each year, we’ve launched innovative projects at many of our places, harnessing the expertise and creativity of our brilliant workforce. Glencoe is already a great example of our strategy in action.