Glen Ample

There is a wee story behind this run. Back in 2015 a nature program on TV featured the dipper, a Scottish aquatic songbird -- in fact the country's only aquatic songbird. The program highlighted this lovely bird feeding in Loch Earn and returning to Glen Ample. And so the search for a route was born. Although the first run was in 2015 it has taken almost 10 years to write up.

The small car park at Loch Lubnaig is only £5 parking for the day so no big deal. There are machines but you can also pay at the Cabin food shack - more on the Cabin at the end of this review. From the car park take care crossing the busy road with the forest road and of course a hill waiting for you on the other side of the road. Crossing the road is the only tarred bit of road on the route - lovely. Something really lovely about a run through the trees and you soon gain some height and with it some lovely views over and down Loch Lubnaig. This forest road has some flatter sections but generally it's all uphill till about when you leave the treeline and the route becomes more of a dirt/rocky path. However you are now mainly downhill with a few undulations and burn crossings to keep it interesting. You really feel like you are out in the middle of nowhere on the trail through Glen Ample, just what a good Scottish trail run should be. There are short sections of the path where you are mainly on grass, but don't worry the path reappears quickly. The first troublesome part arrives at about where you are asked to follow a small path on the left rather that take the dirt road up past the farm. This is tricky running due to hidden rock amongst the reeds and long grasses so be careful. This section can also get rather muddy, but it's only about in length so no big deal. Once past this short section you are onto forest road again and the gradual start of an incline that will take you up in . This section does over some lovely views over Loch Earn.

As this is an out and back you could choose to omit this final section or take the road down onto the Loch Earn road. Other routes on the site cover runs along Loch Earn. The forest road does turn into more of a trail before finally ending in a small clearing. For another day and another route is the possibility of a shorter loop of a run using the fire break in the trees and crossing the Ample Burn. This we hope to research at some point. However, for this run it was back the way we came.

Arriving back at Loch Lubnaig and the Cabin has been a very mixed experience. The location is lovely, but the service from the Cabin has ranged for wonderful in 2015 to awful in 2025. From friendly and welcoming to folk who think they are doing you a favour. Very happy to update this if anyone has any input. So for us this meant instead of sitting by the loch with a cup of lovely home made lentil soup, we declined the grumpy guys offerings.