Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Extended Wild Camping Ban Approved

 A wild camp high above Loch Lomond

The Scottish Government has approved an extension of the controversial wild camping ban along the east side of Loch Lomond to other roadside areas in the national park. The ban won't come into effect until the spring of 2017 to allow time for the 'introduction of 300 low-cost camping places through a combination of new and improved camping facilities and camping permits to allow informal lochshore camping at sustainable level'. Camping permits? How ever will these be issued or policed?

Unsurprisingly this news has been greeted with dismay by various groups and individuals including Cameron McNeish, The Ramblers,and The Mountaineering Council of Scotland. There's a report with a map of the zones for the camping bans on The Great Outdoors site and other informative reports on Walk Highlands and grough. 

The proposal to extend the camping ban first came up a year or so ago. I wrote a piece for The Great Outdoors back then which I've posted below. I haven't changed my views since then other than being even more opposed to the ban now than I was then. Now that it's going ahead it's a question of ensuring it's not extended elsewhere and that innocent wild campers, such as someone walking the West Highland Way who runs out of energy and just wants to camp quietly overnight, aren't penalised.

Just What Is Wild Camping?

Defining wild camping may not seem important. We all know what it means anyway, don’t we? To us walkers and backpackers it means camping in wild places away from roads and buildings. But to others it simply means camping anywhere other than an organised camp site. So the people who camp next to their cars on roadsides and leave litter and destruction behind them are described in the mass media as ‘wild campers’. And that gets us a bad name. 

This came to a head a few years ago on the east side of Loch Lomond. To deal with the problems of car campers causing damage the National Park authority introduced byelaws against ‘wild’ camping along roadsides plus, more positively, a basic campsite. Along with many others I reluctantly accepted the byelaws as necessary due to the vandalism that was going on. Now the issue has flared up again with proposals from Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park to introduce similar byelaws in many other areas. This I think is going too far. I also think it needs to be made clear that this is about car camping and not wild camping. Self-propelled travellers, whether by foot, bicycle or canoe, should not be treated the same as car campers.

Loch Lomond

There is evidence that the problems on the east side of Loch Lomond are occurring in other places, both inside and outside the Park, but I don’t think that new byelaws are the right answer. Vandalism and anti-social behaviour is already illegal anyway and anyone involved in such activities forfeits their access rights under the access legislation. Enforcement of the current laws would help reduce the problem without penalising backpackers, climbers and others who just want to pitch their tent for a night and then move on and who leave little impact. A blanket ban puts everyone in the same category and is a crude instrument for dealing with the issue. It’s also dangerous in that it could be used by those landowners who would like to ban true wild camping to argue for bans on their land.

 

One proposal from Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park that is positive is for the provision of more basic campsites alongside roads in the parks, sites that would have facilities such as toilets and litter bins. In fact it would be good if more such facilities could be provided along roads anyway – not all the litter or used loo paper comes from campers. Creating camp sites has been the answer to similar problems in the past. I can remember when people camped anywhere they liked in Glen Torridon, near the Sligachan Inn on the Isle of Skye, and near the Clachaig Inn in Glencoe. Whilst most of the campers were walkers and climbers and not there just to party there were problems with litter, the lack of toilet facitilies and damage to the ground due to over-use. In Torridon and at Sligachan basic camp sites were set up whilst at Glencoe the National Trust opened a rather grander site some distance away. It’s rare now to see roadside camping in these places. 

Doesn’t that take away from the pleasure of wild camping though? Isn’t part of the freedom of wild camping being able to just stop and pitch where you like? Here we come back to how wild camping is defined. In my view roadside car camping isn’t wild camping. I would happily use a simple site with facilities designed for tent campers if one was provided. And if not I’d head away from the road to camp out of sight.

Loch Lomond Roadside Camping Problems

For the last few years there have been problems with unofficial camping close to the road on the eastern side of Loch Lomond with much damage caused and trash left by vandals. This is not wild camping, though it has been called such. The Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority is now calling it “informal camping”, which is a better description. The access legislation that gives a right to wild camping was not designed to include roadside camping but many have interpreted it as doing so. As the legislation only grants access rights to those who behave responsibly the people trashing the shores of Loch Lomond are clearly outwith the legislation anyway. In order to end the vandalism the national park is proposing byelaws to ban informal camping on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond close to the road. Once beyond the road end the byelaw will not apply. The vandal-campers don’t walk far and aren’t likely to cause damage far from the roadside (the national park says that informal research shows that most people will not go further than 29 metres from their car to camp – these are not backpackers!). Before enacting the byelaws the park is carrying out a consultation. See the information on the park website here. Having seen some of the damage caused to a beautiful and accessible place I am in favour of the parks proposals. I don’t think that byelaws to stop roadside camping are in breach of the access legislation or in any way a threat to real wild camping. In fact I think that dealing with this problem is a way to protect wild camping and reduce the likelihood of any blanket ban. It should also return the area to locals who currently have to put up with having their home vandalised and to visitors who really appreciate it and don’t cause damage.

There has been some concern expressed on outdoor blogs (see Whitespider and Walkabout in the UK) that these byelaws could penalise backpackers and West Highland Way walkers who just want to camp quietly without leaving a trace. The national park proposals do address this legitimate concern saying “there is still a need to provide an informal camping experience in the area. The informal camp area(s) would provide basic facilities (toilet, firepit, bin provision) but it would still be a wilder camping experience than that of established formal campsites.” There are also commercial camp sites in the area too. And of course you can just walk beyond the road and have a real wild camp.

Photo info. Two wild camps on the eastern side of Loch Lomond. Top: on the southern slopes of Ben Lomond overlooking Loch Lomond; bottom: in the woods close to the West Highland Way and Rowchoish bothy. Both pictures: Sigma DP1. Top 1/160@f8, ISO 200. Bottom 1/25@f5.6, ISO 400.

Backpacking in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Photo Essay

Last autumn I undertook a 2 night hike beside Loch Lomond and over Ben Lomond in stormy weather (see post for October 21, 2008). Backpacking Light.com has just published a photo essay on this trip with sixteen images, all with extended captions telling the story of the walk. The photo essay is available to non subscribers to Backpacking Light and can be found here. All the images bar one were taken with the Sigma DP1 compact camera, which I reviewed on Backpacking Light.

Photo info: Rainbow over Loch Lomond. Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS@30mm, 1/160@F5.6, ISO 200, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.

Stormy Weather on Ben Lomond

With talks in Glasgow and Edinburgh bookending last week,rather than return home for the short intervening period I spent a few days in the Loch Lomond area, somewhere I rarely visit as it’s the most distant part of the Highlands from my home. The forecast was for stormy weather and this time it was right. However rather than the blanket of cloud hiding the hills and the constant rain that stormy weather can mean I had three days of fast moving violent squalls with bursts of heavy rain, tremendous winds and flashes of sunlight, which was invigorating and exciting. The first afternoon I walked along the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, following the West Highland Way, watching the clouds tumbling over the Arrochar Alps and the wind-driven rain crashing on the stony beaches. The woods were dripping with moisture and I had a damp camp deep amongst the autumn-tinted trees, sheltered from the wind but not the rain. Leaving the forest the next day I climbed up onto the boggy ground to the north of Ben Lomond, where my overtrousers were needed to keep the waist high reeds from soaking me as well as shedding the frequent showers as I crossed the sodden land to the north ridge, which in turn led to the top section of the rocky Ptarmigan Ridge. Blasts of storm force winds had me clinging to the rocks in places to avoid being blown off the mountain. Dense wet cloud enshrouded me long before I reached the top. Hoping there might be a clearance I found shelter on the steep slopes east of the summit cairn and sat down to wait and a snack of grain bars and water. Another walker bemoaned the lack of a view. Then a touch of blue appeared for a second as a swirl of cloud parted. Hazy shapes appeared in the distance. Soon the dense ever-changing mass of cloud was writhing and twisting above the hills, ripped and torn by the wind. Loch Lomond spread out to the lowlands, a shining grey and hard silver with gold flashes where the sun touched it. Standing still was difficult and I took photographs lying down. The dramatic sky accompanied me down the south side of the mountain to a high camp partly sheltered from the wind. Intermittent heavy rain ensured that my tent, soaked from the night before, stayed wet despite the wind. The storm now came from the north-west and the temperature fell. There was ice round the edge of the tent at dawn. As I descended back to Loch Lomond and the drive to Edinburgh the still savage storm gave rainbows over the distant hills, curves of colour against the grey clouds and silhouetted slopes. The whole trip had barely lasted 48 hours but it felt far longer due to the intensity of the weather and the constant feeling of exhilaration.

Photo info: Loch Lomond from Ben Lomond. Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS@28mm, f5.6@1/1250, ISO 200, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.