Furnace to Ford Drove Road
Start location: Carron (NR 944 996)
End location: Ford (NM 868 035)
Geographical area: Argyll and Bute
Path Type: Drove Road
Path distance: 7.5km
Accessibility info: Suitable for pedestrians
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Route DescriptionCarron, now partly restored as a bothy, lies at the junction of two routes leading to Furnace; one from Kilneuair, the other from Kilmichael Glassary. It is the route from Carron to Kilneuair (and thence Ford) which is described here:
From Carron the track climbs northwest uphill into open country to reach a height of approximately 365m. Descending Bealach Gaoithe (windy pass) to the north end of Loch Gaineamhach (sandy loch), the track passes several hill lochs, before further descending Bealach Ruadh (red pass). After about 1.5 miles the track reaches a farm track leading to Finchairn. Care is required to ensure that the track is followed in a northwesterly direction to the ruined medieval church of Kilneuair, as the Finchairn track is the more obvious. From the church the track passes to the B840 road where limited car parking exists, several hundred metres east of the track/road junction. The track surface is predominantly grassy with bare sections which can be wet and waterlogged. Ford can be reached to the west along the B840.
OS Landranger 55
Heritage Information
This right of way formed part of an important drove road linking Loch Awe side and Loch Fyne side and is detailed in the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland's inventory for Mid Argyll.
Ford is said to have originally been known as the Ford of the Hazels. It once had a drover's inn, the change-house, also known as the Crown House (now a B&B) - this particular Ford Inn predated 1864's Ford Hotel.
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