by Follow the West Highland Railway Line north from Glasgow, along tracks that wind through Loch Lomond and Trois National Park to the clear air of Rannoch Moor, and a Brigade awaits. At least for those who like their holidays when sleeping bags, muddy boots and bunk beds are not far away.
This is where hill walkers and pushers can disembark at Corrour station, the highest destination in the UK, before continuing on the rugged one mile gravel track that cuts across the moors to Loch Oisin and the push banks in the lonely heart of the Grampians.
It was once a lakeside waiting room for the gentry who were given a horse and carriage from the station to shoot red deer and game on the surrounding Corrour Estate. Now the lodge is the UK’s Hostel of the Year, winning the top spot in the Great Outdoors Readers’ Awards 2024. It’s the perfect place to experience the Outback at its most beautiful – and a fitting testament to its ability native of Scotland to do remote work. Such good rustic accommodation.
It was snowing heavily when I arrived at Corrour, the land covered in a white duvet, and the landscape felt dreamy, providing a backdrop fit for a queen of the countryside, a lamppost and a sledge-rider. The station itself seemed very much in the Danny Boyle zeitgeist Trains, but, in outside circles, he is a bigger star turn than Ewan McGregor. It is a gateway to unreachable wilderness, a gateway to some of Britain’s most remarkable backcountry adventures.
The people of the valley once had Corrour as an ancient common, a high-altitude range for summer cattle grazing. Today, backpackers monopolize the landscape. In winter, mountaineers in white waterproofs become tiny beacons on hillsides. In the summer, weekend groups go between the station and the lakeside accommodation. On my visit, as I approached the hostel, a car came down the road. Later, I learned they were workers from Corrour Lodge, a £25,000-a-week, modernist borehole on the 57,000-acre estate. These days, it’s owned by a Swedish philanthropist and Bono’s favorite escape.
A foil to this, Loch Oisin’s 20-bed eco-hostel stands alone, half-hidden by a thicket of trees on a ridge overlooking the water, cherished by purists for its remoteness and wild space. Ahead of me was the mirror-like symmetry of a lake reflecting pine-topped Scottish islands and rolling mountains mottled brown and white like grouse feathers.
Hostel manager Jan Robinson, who has worked alone at Loch Oisin for 13 years, was almost at a loss to describe what the site means to her and to many who visit. “It’s more of a surprise than anything,” she said, as we sat under a rack of antlers by the open fire. “That feeling of being connected to the wilderness does something to your brain.” For me, the car-free location and wifi – the sense of undisturbed quiet – was like being drawn into modern life.
Lough Oiseán Youth Hostel is a textbook example of why such places still play a vital role in our modern travels. According to Hostelling Scotland, bed nights across the country have risen from pre-pandemic levels, with almost 315,000 nights recorded for last season, compared to around 260,000 for the equivalent of 2019/20. That’s an impressive occupancy level of almost 70 per cent across the charity’s 29 lodges and 24 affiliates. And much of the UK is experiencing the same rise.
“Responsible and sustainable travel and the connection to the great air have long been at the heart of the eruption, but the desire to get outside and enjoy nature has never been stronger,” said Graham Sheach, marketing manager of Hostelling Scotland. , I spoke. until my trip to Loch Oisin. “The cost of living crisis has certainly given more people a try. Its flexible and informal nature, and self-catering capability, make it an increasingly authentic travel experience.”
With that in mind, it’s not hard to understand why there has been an increase in the number of young travelers in Loch Oisin, as well as an influx of people from as far afield as China, Korea, Japan and India. Reasons for hope abound and my night was spent in the bunk house with all ages, from all walks of life. My other hosts included a group from the Lake District, a walker from South Africa, a pharmacist, a photographer and a student, among others. In Scotland’s hostels, no one is left out. Late at night, hot toasts and whiskey are shared by the fireside.
With deep snow on the ground the next morning, I made my way back to the station at Corrour, where I waited for the morning service back to Glasgow. Birds circled above the track. The sun-streaked tops of the Mám Mór summits were a barrier between Loch Oisin and the rest of the Highlands. As I was getting into the carriage, two other inns came from the Right William, ready to sleep in a place which was in the very center of Scotland, but as far away as possible.
How to do it
Mike MacEacheran was a guest of Visit Scotland (visitscotland.com) and Hostelling Scotland (hostellingscotland.org.uk). Loch Ossian Youth Hostel (01397 732 207; hostellingscotland.org.uk/hostels/loch-ossian) has dorm rooms from £23 a night.
