The Stevenson Way Route
- Super User
Robert Louis Stevenson deliberately gave vague details for route that David was meant to have taken from Erraid to Edinburgh. For example David Balfour declares at the end of chapter 15 that "having travelled the greater part of that big and crooked Island of Mull, from Earraid to Torosay, fifty miles as the crow flies and (with my wanderings) much nearer a hundred, in four days", with no places in Mull mentioned apart from the start and finish. There are a few obvious places mentioned in the book which help to provide some markers but we are mainly left to our imagination as to the route. Some parts would not be recommended, for example the map shows the route going over the Aonach Eagach ridge in Glencoe - that is serious and dangerous terrain!
Due to the distance involved and the remoteness of much of the route (for example there are no shops between Kinlochleven and Strathyre - generally there are very few places to buy provisions), it is expected that most walkers will complete the Stevenson Way in short sections, carrying their own food. It is possible to do most of the route in weekend stints but Mull and the Rannoch Moor sections are best covered in 4 days. The Route page for each major section will include options for breaking it up into 2 day stints.
There is a DVD on the Stevenson Way available and you can see a preview here. The DVD now has subtitles in English, French and German. Please contact us if you would like a copy (£5 plus postage).
There are three maps here, a quick overview one, RLS's one for the book, and a dynamic one at the bottom.
This map gives a rough outline of the route of the Stevenson Way:
You will need at least the following OS Landranger (1:50,000) maps: 41, 42, 48, 49, 50, 51, 57 & 65. The Explorer (1:25,000) maps would be better but you need a lot of them!
Map references are given in the usual OS 6 figure format e.g. (295196).
Associated photographs can be viewed in the Photos page.