How to Find the Devil’s Pulpit in Scotland

The Devil’s Pulpit is a beautiful moss-covered gorge with an almost ruby-colored river flowing through. You might recognize it from the Outlander series and the Detective Pikachu movie from 2019. The real name of the gorge is Finnich Glen, the name Devil’s Pulpit comes from a rock formation in the gorge that looks similar to a church pulpit, although the red water caused by the red sandstone seemed more satanic to the early visitors.

The Devil’s Pulpit is located about a 30 minutes drive from Glasgow, 15 minutes from Loch Lomond or a 90 minutes drive from Edinburgh. The easiest way to get to Finnich Glen is by car, however, if you are travelling by public transport First Scotland East operates the B9 service with a stop about 20-25 minute walk from Finnich Glen.

If you are arriving by car there are two main car parks, however, they are poorly signed and the one closest to the trail only fits 2 or 3 cars and tends to fill up rapidly. The A809 is a busy main road with a lot of traffic so use the car parks and park considerably.

When you’ve made your way to the trail you’ll find a gate to go through before the trail follows along the top of the gorge. The trail is pretty easy to follow but do be careful as there is no fence and the drop-down to the gorge is steep and quite far. After a 10-15 minute walk, you’ll find “Jacob’s Ladder”, the ancient stone steps going down into the gorge. Keep in mind that the steps are steep and in very poor condition, but this is the only way down into the gorge without climbing gear. Once you are down the actual pulpit rock is located further inside the gorge and you’ll have to wade through the water to get there, so you might want to bring wellies if you don’t want to get wet.

Check also out: Staying at the Raasay Distillery