Steall Falls Hike, Glen Nevis

Steall Falls is the second highest waterfall in Scotland and a filming location for some of the Harry Potter movies. But whether you give a crap about Potter or not, this is a really stunning spot for a short hike.

I always thought the first time I headed out to Steall Falls would be when I hiked the Ring of Steall (a 4 Munro circuit in the Mamores which starts with a walk to the falls). But summer disappeared a little too fast this year and I never managed to make time for the Ring of Steall. It’s a long hiking day, that one, so it will definitely be one I save for summer. But while I had a few late Autumn days solo in and around Glencoe, I took the opportunity to get out and at least check out the waterfall itself.

Here’s how that went.

Steall Falls Out and Back Route

There is a longer circular route here too. But I was on limited daylight and had another walk I wanted to squeeze in after this one, so it was a quick out and back for me on this route:

It is a very easy to follow path but some care should be taken.

Here’s the quick Tiktok version:

@staceyhikes A little autumn hike up to Steall Falls in Scotland. #hiketok #waterfalls #chasingwaterfalls ♬ Lost in Time – George King & Richard Kimmings

And here’s how the hike went.

Parking for Steall Falls

If you’re in a camper or large vehicle, you’ll need to park at Steall Falls Lower Car Park, further down the road from the one closer to the falls.

This is because, beyond that car park, the road is a single track lane through Glen Nevis with pass places but it wholly unsuitable for campers.

You can put Steall Waterfall Upper Car Park into your sat nav os use What3Words location:

///itself.sweeten.signs

Here’s what that car park looks like.

Now, it’s worth bearing in mind that I went on a term time Friday on a very wet and dreary day in November even then there were a few cars there. I imagine it would be tricky to get parked here in peak season unless you were to arrive very early!

There are bike racks at the end of the car park too if you’re cycling in.

The Steall Waterfail Trail Path

So the path is really easy to follow. It starts here, right at the end of the car park:

As you can see in the Tiktok at the start of this post, there is warning of danger of death. Now that can be a little unnerving when you’re just heading out on a little walk!

But the warning is justified. There are some areas of this path that are rocky (and very slippy when wet) with sheer drops into the gorge below.

So care is needed. But, there is no technical scrambling required.

There is one section of path where the terrain must’ve been sketchy enough for them to decide to build a bridge over it:

A massive highlight of this trail was this viewpoint of the Glen:

It’s just a few minutes after that when you’ll arrive at an opening from which you can see the beautiful Steall waterfall:

The path you can see in the image above is much like that all the way to the river across from the falls, where you can wander and take your photographs and just enjoy the quiet.

I saw just 3 other people when I was there (despite more cars in the car park – but some may have been climbing the mountains).

The best views, in my opinion, were on the side of the river you arrive at. About here:

But you can cross the river using this cable bridge for a closer look:

The cable bridge was much simpler to cross than it looked! For a short person like me, the hardest part was getting onto from the starting side. It needs a step ha! I took a climb up though and crossed quite easily:

It’s much easier to get on and off from the other side.

Once I’d finished taking my photos, I traced my steps back to the car park. 

Not including the half hour or so I spent wandering around taking photos at the falls and over the bridge, this walk was little over an hour.

See how absolutely delighted I look with my life choices on this one…

It really is a beautiful walk and well worthwhile.