North Ledaig Caravan Park north of Oban in Scotland is a popular campsite. For us it has good and bad points but we made the most of a couple of nights here, leaving our campervan onsite and walking from the site.
The Campsite
This is a large site with different areas for Caravan and Motorhome Club members and non-members. This isn’t a club site but it is affiliated. The site slopes down to the coast and many of the pitches have a sea view but you have to deal with the tilt, unless you carry large levelling blocks. There are some pitches that are level, often tucked away without a sea view. Pitches are allocated by the site, and, as we found, changing the pitch you have been given is more of a palaver than it really should be.
There are two facilities blocks, one in the centre of the site and one by reception and the shop. These are both kept clean and have modern showers that are okay.
As well as the sea view and colourful sunsets, the disused railwayline that is now a cycle path and runs through the site is the other big plus at North Ledaig. This is part of the Caledonia Way from Campbeltown to Inverness. It is a mixture of road and traffic-free cycling. Most of the 49-mile section between Oban and Fort William [the stretch this campsite sits on] is on this disused railwayline and it is a fairly level route with fantastic views.
A Walk around the Lanes – approx 8km
This is an almost completely flat walk. We turned right on the cycle path and walked down to North Connel on the traffic-free route. Crossing the main road, we took the lane through Black Crofts and around the shore of Loch Etie. We were walked around the Moss of Achnacree and caught glimpses of the heather moss occasionally through individual houses and we could gaze along Loch Etive. This is a residential road with houses of different ages and sizes and there is some traffic. It became quieter once we turned onto the straight road back to North Ledaig. A signed along here warned us about red squirrels and sure enough, one bounded up a lane towards us and scampered under a fence into the trees.
Walk up Beinn Lora – approx 9km
With a sunny day forecast, we decided to climb Beinn Lora, a small hill that overlooks the campsite. It is only 308m high but being on the coast it is a marvellous viewpoint. This time we turned left on the cycle path to Benderloch, which is only 1.5km from the campsite. We were disappointed that the lovely café here closed on Mondays and Tuesdays so we took a flask. From Benderloch we climbed steeply through the woodland on well-made paths with regular picnic benches and viewpoints. We could look down on the coast and see the rows of caravans and motorhomes at North Ledaig below us, as well as the runway of the hardly-used airport.
Stopping for coffee and an early lunch on the last picnic bench, we had views north over Benderloch to Morvern. Walk Highlands suggested the final push to the summit can be boggy but it was okay on our September walk. On the open hillside of rock and short wet sections, skeins of geese flew over honking enthusiastically. From the rounded trig point we could see Ben Cruachan and along Loch Etive and laid out below was the moss we had walked around the day before. It was clear enough to see over Lismore and across to Mull and in the distance were the Paps of Jura. For effort vs reward, Beinn Lora tips the scales very much towards reward. We returned to the campsite the same way.
Back on the road again 