Trossachs Forest Track — Aberfoyle to Inversnaid via the Duke’s Pass Ridgeline

Duke’s Pass sits above Aberfoyle like a lid on a pressure cooker — once you crest it on the forestry tracks that shadow the tarmac, the tourist traffic drops away and you’re threading through Sitka spruce and birch onto the open ridge above Loch Ard. The hardcore line cuts northeast through Achray Forest, drops into the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park interior, and eventually finds the rough lochside track to Inversnaid — the same remote shore that Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote about and Robert the Bruce hid in. The key obstacle is the descent to Loch Lomond’s east bank: a narrow, heavily rutted forest road with a tight switchback above the Inversnaid waterfall gorge that demands real attention on the wheel.

This is high-clearance territory minimum — a standard 4WD SUV on all-terrain tyres handles it fine in dry summer conditions, but the tracks turn greasy clay soup from October through April and a locker on the rear axle stops you looking stupid on the gorge descent. Forestry Scotland manages most of the access tracks; no permit needed but gates can close during active timber operations so check ahead at forestryandland.gov.scot. Fuel in Aberfoyle before you leave — Inversnaid has nothing. Best run May through September. The payoff is Loch Lomond from a shore almost nobody reaches by road.