What are the opening hours?

Monday 9:30am - 4pm Tuesday 9:30am - 4pm Wednesday 9:30am - 4pm Thursday 9:30am - 4pm Friday 9:30am - 4pm Saturday 9:30am - 4pm Sunday 9:30am - 4pm

Glen Coe National Nature Reserve NTS

Home
United Kingdom
Ballachulish, Scotland
Glen Coe National Nature Reserve NTS

Call Directions Website Contact the organisation

National Trust for Scotland has cared for Glen Coe's mountains since the 1930s. Love Glen Coe? Support us 💚

We look after eight iconic Munros, 75km of paths and a visitor centre with 17th century creel house creation, cinema and interactive exhibition.

24/10/2026

With Storm Boelo set to bring gale Force 10 winds to Glencoe National Nature Reserve NTS, our Visitor Centre will be ⚠️ CLOSED ⚠️ tomorrow, so our staff can keep safe at home 💨💨💨

Take care everyone and see you Monday! 🙏💚

In the meantime, here are a few of our team's favourite photos from the last week - taken on slightly more serene autumn days 🍂🏔️☀️

National Trust for Scotland ~ Discover Glencoe, Scotland

21/10/2026

📣 Calling all mountain lovers 🏔️🥰

Don't miss the The Munro Society’s touring exhibition at our Visitor Centre for the next four weeks 👇👇

📆 Tues 20 Oct to Sat 14 Nov - FREE entry

🕣 Open daily - 10am to 4pm

It charts the life of Sir Hugh Munro and his mission to list Scotland’s peaks over 3,000ft (914m) ⛰️🚶🥾

You'll discover the evolution of hillwalking and climbing in Scotland - from its 19th century origins to Munro ‘bagging’ today.

We're delighted to host this in Glencoe National Nature Reserve NTS as we care for EIGHT very popular Munros:

🏔️ Stob Coire Raineach (925m) & Stob Dubh (958m) - the Buachaille Etive Beag Munros

⛰️ Stob Dearg (1,022m) & Stob na Bròige (956m) - the Buachaille Etive Mòr Munros

🏔️ Meall Dearg (952m) & Sgòrr nam Fiannaidh (967m) - the Aonach Eagach Munros

⛰️ Bidean nam Bian (1150m) & Stob Coire Sgreamhach (1072m) - the Bidean Munros

How many of them have you climbed and do you have a favourite?! 🤔

Glen Coe was one of the earliest focal points for mountaineering in Scotland and our charity was only able to acquire the Glen back in the 1930s thanks to donations from hundreds of hillwalkers, alongside an anonymous contribution from then Chair of the Scottish Mountaineering Club, Percy Unna) 💚🙏

The popularity of our peaks has grown a wee bit since then and it's fascinating to see the changing face of hillwalking in this informative exhibition. We wonder what Unna would make of it all?!

Today, our role is to help minimise and contain the impact hundreds of thousands of walking boots can have on our sensitive mountain habitats with over 60km of upland paths here. Every penny you spend at our Visitor Centre helps in this task...

So pop along, enjoy the FREE exhibition and treat yourself in the cafe or shop on your way out 😁

National Trust for Scotland ~ Discover Glencoe, Scotland ~ Mountaineering Scotland ~ Walkhighlands

12/10/2026

Now is the time to come and explore Glencoe National Nature Reserve NTS ✨

Without the busyness that summer brings, you’ll have the mountain views to yourself 🥰

🗺 Check out our Visitor Centre’s new interactive exhibition, all about the Glen’s volcanic origins, its rare habitats and what it takes to care for them. Among lots of fun activities, you can rate your outdoor skills in our digital Ranger Quiz and find out whose poos who’s!

⛰️ Get your walk inspiration from our 3D map and don’t miss the Glencoe Greenway, our new 5km traffic-free path into the heart of the glen – perfect for walkers, cyclists, wheelchair or buggy-users.

🛖 Step inside our replica 17th-century turf and creel house and journey back in time. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, breathe in the peat smoke and listen to the evocative soundscape for a sense of life in the glen three hundred years ago.

🎬 Don’t miss our cinema films for a whistle-stop tour through 400 million years of history in 10 minutes and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the turf house.

🍰 Our Highland Coo Café is the perfect place to relax and refuel, with panoramic mountain views, speciality hot drinks, delicious food, and sweet treats – plus, one of the Highlands’ best bird feeding stations right out the window!

🎁 Find plenty of gift inspiration in our shop, with unique local souvenirs, clothing, books, and more. Every penny you spend supports our charity’s conservation work.

Plan your visit here 👉nts.org.uk/glencoe
Browse our gift shop online 👉 shop.nts.org.uk

11/10/2026

Bit of a contrast to our last post...

Today we were treated to a beautiful start to a beautiful day - sunrise illuminating the peaks and precipitous ridges emerging from the mist 😍👌

If you were up early enjoying the mountains, please share your pics too 📸 🙏

Our photos were actually taken on the Fort William to Glasgow bus at around 8.30am this morning 🌅 🚌 🏔️

Did you know there are 24 direct Ember or Scottish Citylink coach services which stop in Glencoe Village and our Glen Coe NNR Visitor Centre, at the west of the glen, plus Glencoe Mountain Resort, in the east, every day?

🚌 Fort William x 12 each way (35min)
🚌 Glasgow x 8 each way (2hr 40min)
🚌 Edinburgh x 4 each way (3hr 30min)

It costs a bargain £2 from Fort William, £4 from Glasgow and £15 from Edinburgh, which is not bad compared with the price of petrol right now...

As well as getting the chance to sit back, relax, enjoy the views from up high, take photos (nice clean windows 😁👍), read a book, or chat - this is the most environmentally sustainable ways to get here - perfect for a day out or a long weekend in Lochaber 💚

Alas, there's no official bus stop on the 12-mile stretch of A82 between our Visitor Centre and the Mountain Resort 😔👎

We think this is a big missed opportunity and have been talking to bus operators, The Highland Council and Transport Scotland about it.

We hope they will work together on the permissions, signage and infrastructure to introduce a bus stop in the vicinity of the Three Sisters in 2027 - potentially alongside a reduction in the speed limit on this very busy stretch. Watch this space🤞😊🤞

Giving visitors practical, attractive alternatives to driving into the heart of the Glen, is something we are very passionate about 🌈

We're keen to extend the Glencoe Greenway cycle path, and we're championing the introduction of a local park-n-ride, hop-on, hop-off shuttle bus 🚲 🚌 🚲 🚌

Neither of these are quick fixes though, so in the meantime, it would be great if the existing long-distance coach services could stop on their way past!

National Trust for Scotland

08/10/2026

With our lowest temps this autumn so far, the team caught their first snow flakes of the season yesterday!! ❄️❄️❄️

Here Stalker Sandy and our Ranger Modern Apprentice, Alyssa, are looking down on Coire Gabhail, the Hidden Valley, from the slopes of Stob Coire nan Lochan 🏔️

Best to come prepared for all conditions if you're out in the hills at this time of the year 👍

National Trust for Scotland

20/08/2026

Last few spaces left to join us and The Wild Cooke tomorrow! 🌿🧺🥗👇

National Trust for Scotland

14/08/2026

This weekend, we're excited to be joined at the Turf House by historian and author of 'Glencoe, The Infamous Massacre of 1692', John Sadler 🛖📜

He and his living history group will step into the shoes of characters from 17th century Glen Coe, sharing stories of everyday life, as well as the day when the Glen witnessed 'murder under trust' 🗡️

Sound interesting?? Pop along for this unique, immersive FREE event 😊👇

📆 Drop in, 10am to 4pm, Sat - Sun

Murder Under Trust: Massacre of Glencoe - Living History Weekend

National Trust for Scotland

10/08/2026

🌱 Upcoming Guided Foraging Walks 🌱

Friday 14th & Friday 21st August - 1pm - 2:30pm, £25 per person

The Wild Cooke will be leading two guided foraging walks starting from our visitor centre this August - spaces are limited so book now to secure your spot!

Join Lucy, local foraging tutor and BBC ALBA presenter, on one of these walks to learn about the wild foods that were available to people living in the glen in the past, and that are available to us still today.

Book now via The Wild Cooke website - www.thewildcooke.com/scotland

28/06/2026

A little Sunday morning mindfulness from our dragonfly-loving Ranger Lindsay 🧘‍♀️👇🏼

Watch and listen to the dance of a golden-ringed dragonfly "ovipositing" - laying eggs - in a burn at An Torr woodlands ☺️💚

From bogs to burns, Glencoe National Nature Reserve NTS is alive with dragonflies right now 🏞️🏔️

You'll often spot a pair in tandem flight while mating. Watch a little longer, and you might see the female depositing her eggs, as this happens almost immediately afterwards 🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚

The golden-ringed dragonfly is the longest dragonfly in the UK, thanks to its particularly long tail - or ovipositor - the organ from which it releases eggs.

Dragonflies either lay their eggs in water, repeatedly dipping the tips of their ovipositors and each time releasing eggs below the water surface (exophytic egg-laying, like here) 💦💦

OR by using a tiny blade-like point at the end of their ovipositor to cut a hole slice into a plant, mud or rotting wood, making space to safely hide the eggs (endophytic egg-laying) 🗡️🗡️

For some species, the male will remain nearby or stay linked, to guard his partner and their eggs 💪👨🏼‍✈️

And what happens to those eggs after they are laid? Some will hatch into wee nymphs within 2 to 5 weeks, especially if laid in the height of summer. If later in the season, they might stay dormant over winter and hatch the following spring 🌱🌷

Once hatched, the tiny nymphs can spend anywhere from a few months, to up to five years (for the golden-ringed dragonfly), living underwater before finally emerging as adults 🏊🏼‍♂️🏊🏾‍♂️

As with so many insects, only a small proportion of their lives is actually spent on the wing - hunting for food, finding a mate and laying eggs - from a week to a month or so...

We've been working with British Dragonfly Society as part of their NatureScot project to improve habitats for some of the rare dragonfly species that make their home in bog pools below Buachaille Etive Mòr and will share more on that soon!

National Trust for Scotland ~ Scotland's National Nature Reserves ~ Discover Glencoe, Scotland

27/06/2026

We're looking forward to Glencoe Archaeology Field School 2026 starting next week! 🛖🔍

This year the University of Glasgow Archaeology and National Trust for Scotland teams will:

⚒️ Continue last year's excavations at the 17th century settlement of Achnacon ~ you can get great views of this from the Glencoe Greenway! 🚲🚶‍♀️🚲

🗺️ Accurately map the complex array of houses and manmade features, like grain kilns, kailyards and rig & furrow, at the long-lost townships of Achnambeith and Achtriochtan, using GPS and drones.

🐑 Understand more about the 19th century commercial sheep farms at Achnacon and Achtriochtan, which replaced the communities who once made their homes in the Glen.

🪏 Our Dig for the Day event will see loads of local people join us for a chance to try their hand at archaeological investigation. There was huge demand for spaces, so we're afraid it is now fully booked...

🥳 The week will finish off on Friday with a FREE Archaeology Open Day at our Turf House to share everyone's findings and offer loads of activities for kids and adults alike - the perfect way to start to the Summer Holidays!

Don't miss it if you share our fascination for the MacDonalds of Glen Coe and how the Glen's landscape and people have changed over the centuries 🏔️🧙‍♀️💚

Archaeology Scotland ~ Discover Glencoe, Scotland ~ Scotland's National Nature Reserves

Address

Glen Coe Visitor Centre, Off A82
Ballachulish
PH494HX

Opening Hours

Monday	9:30am - 4pm
Tuesday	9:30am - 4pm
Wednesday	9:30am - 4pm
Thursday	9:30am - 4pm
Friday	9:30am - 4pm
Saturday	9:30am - 4pm
Sunday	9:30am - 4pm

Telephone

+441855811307

Website

http://www.nts.org.uk/Glencoe, http://www.nts.org.uk/footpath-fund

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Glen Coe National Nature Reserve NTS posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.