The John Muir Way is one of Scotland's Great Trails. It runs for 134 miles (215 km) coast-to-coast across central Scotland, from Helensburgh on the Clyde to Dunbar on the North Sea. The route is as suitable for cyclists as for walkers, and it can be completed as a coast-to-coast expedition or tackled in sections - typically ten for walkers or five for cyclists. Our 2020 lightweight edition includes the latest route updates approaching Strathblane and in Linlithgow, as well as the Three Lochs Way option leaving Helensburgh. It features mapping at 1:75,000 on 20 of its pages.
The John Muir Way's appeal ranges from the Charles Rennie Mackintosh architecture of Helensburgh through the scenic grandeur of Loch Lomond, along two famous canals and past the amazing Falkirk Wheel, beside the Roman Antonine Wall, passing Linlithgow Palace, Blackness Castle and the Forth Bridges to the capital glories of Edinburgh. It goes beside the Firth of Forth to reach North Berwick, then heads inland to finish at Dunbar with its ruined castle and the John Muir birthplace.
This guidebook contains all you need to plan and enjoy the John Muir Way on a bike or on foot:
- background on John Muir's life, the canal heritage and wildlife
- detailed description of the route from west to east
- summary of each section showing distance, terrain and food/drink stops
- details of visitor attractions and side-trips
- planning information for travel by car, train, bus or plane
- detailed mapping of the John Muir Way on 20 pages at 1:75,000
- in full colour, with 100 photographs
- further route options, diversions and an unofficial shortcut.
Bardwell, Sandra: - A dedicated lifelong walker, Sandra worked in Melbourne, Australia, as an archivist and historian after doing a PhD on the history of national parks in her home state of Victoria. In her spare time she wrote a regular column about bushwalking (hiking) in Melbourne's leading daily newspaper, and many articles and books on walking and national parks in south-eastern Australia (1977-89). Sandra moved to Scotland in 1989, and she still lives in Drumnadrochit beside Loch Ness. In recent years she has written guidebooks for Lonely Planet (Italy, Ireland, France, Scotland, Australia), Rucksack Readers (England, Ireland and Scotland) and Sunflower Books (Croatia and Poland-Slovakia).
Megarry, Jacquetta: - After a long career in education and information technology, Jacquetta became interested in long-distance walking and trekking. After completing her first long walk, the West Highland Way in 1998 she progressed to Mount Kilimanjaro, which she has summited four times by different routes. She is a member of the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild and in 2016 won its Award for Excellence for her coauthored guidebook Trek to Everest. In 2018 she won its Digital Award for the website scotlandsgreattrails.com which she devised and manages in partnership with Scottish Natural Heritage. In 2000, she founded Rucksack Readers, a series of over 40 rucksack-friendly guidebooks to adventurous walks worldwide. She has written or co-authored about half of these and has personally hiked nearly all of the routes. Her photographs appear in most of these books and she edits the whole range for consistency, challenge and fun.
