Parking
Ardentinny Forest car park, about a mile north of Ardentinny village, just beyond the Glenfinart Caravan Park entrance.
Overview
About Birchwood Trail, Ardentinny
Why go
- A compact loop reaches the named Lover’s Leap crags.
Heads up
- Steep, narrow sections can be rocky or muddy.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs map
Full mapElevation5–90 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
4 active Loch Lomond & The Trossachs alerts
- CautionA82 restriction near Kings House HotelThe A82 is restricted in both directions near Kings House Hotel, Glencoe, because of planned roadworks. - Temporary traffic lights are in place; follow the traffic management.Official details
- ClosureDaytime A827 closure at KillinThe A827 at Killin is closed during the day for roadworks from 28 September through 9 October 2026. - Closure hours: 9:30am to 3:30pm; avoid the route during those hours.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Tour Guide
Your drive to Birchwood Trail, Ardentinny, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Ardentinny Beach and Glenfinart0:00 / 0:29
“You're coming up on Ardentinny Beach, a broad stretch of sand and shingle on Loch Long backed by forest. It's worth the five-mile single-track approach if you want time by the shore, rather than a quick roadside pause.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Ardentinny's Traveling Trees
- The Trade Behind the Laird's Grave
- The Shore School for D-Day
- The Other Job of Loch Eck
- 196 audio storiesacross Loch Lomond & The Trossachs’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Golden Eagle, Red Deer, Mute Swan, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 93 trails, 73 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Birchwood Trail, Ardentinny
A short woodland loopBirchwood Trail, Ardentinny is a one-mile loop from Ardentinny Forest car park.
Birchwood Trail, Ardentinny is a one-mile loop from Ardentinny Forest car park. It climbs through native birch and oak above the crags of Lover’s Leap, then returns down beside Grotto Burn. Allow about 45 minutes. This is a compact walk with a proper climb packed into a short distance, not a flat wander through the trees.
Steep underfootThe surface is firm but uneven, with narrow grassy and rocky sections that can be muddy.
The surface is firm but uneven, with narrow grassy and rocky sections that can be muddy. Some 400 metres of the walk are steep, with steps in places. The mileage is short, but the slopes ask more of your legs than the distance suggests. Take care on the descent when the ground is wet.
At the startThe car park is about a mile north of Ardentinny village, just beyond the Glenfinart Caravan…
The car park is about a mile north of Ardentinny village, just beyond the Glenfinart Caravan Park entrance. Its picnic area has public toilets open year-round. Dogs may accompany walkers under Scotland’s access rights when kept under proper control.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Loch Lomond & The Trossachs
14 sightingsGolden EagleMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
37 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
100 sightingsMute SwanMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
48 sightingsOspreyMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
24 sightingsEurasian BeaverMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
37 sightingsEurasian Pine MartenMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Loch Lomond & The Trossachs. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
