Duck Bay Beach and Picnic Area

This is the public shore beside the Duck Bay hotel and marina, a strip of sand and pebbles with a grassy lochside picnic area behind it and broad views over the southern end of the loch. Access from the road is easy and the walk from the car is short, which makes it a good ten-minute leg stretch on the drive north as well as a place to sit for an hour.

Use the public parking rather than the hotel's guest parking, which is there for people eating or staying.

Go down to the water's edge and keep some sand and pebbles in the bottom of the frame, with the loch and the hills beyond. That foreground gives the picture depth, which a plain expanse of water rarely has on a phone.

On a still day, watch for the hills reflected in the shallows near the shore.

The grass suits a picnic you have brought with you. If you would rather buy something, the neighbouring hotel has a restaurant, bar and terrace looking toward Ben Lomond, serving breakfasts, lunches, afternoon teas and dinners, and Bobby's is an informal licensed cafe at the same site doing light meals, drinks and afternoon tea.