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GUIDE TO THE RIVER ROY (Access Track to Roybridge) NAME OF RIVER: Roy. WHERE IS IT?: Unsurprisingly, up Glen Roy...a tributary of the Spean valley near Fort William. PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: If you don't want to start on the Upper Roy, access for this grade 3 trip is the track leading from the road a few miles up the valley down to an old bridge. Map. The usual (SCA) takeout for the Roy is 200 yards DOWNSTREAM of the Roy bridge (in Roybridge!) on river left. Follow some poorly marked steps up into the bushes. To get there by road you take a side road from near the pub, it goes under a railway bridge. Map. Another option is to carry on down into the River Spean. David Lloyd (Dec 2005)...'Why bother with the heart-attack egress at the bottom of the Roy Gorge section when the lower Roy takes about 30mins to paddle down to the nice egress at Roy Bridge? This lower section of the Roy is really very pleasant in its own right (2/2+/3 all the way) or as a warm down after the gorge above. As a trip you can combine it with the middle Spean which I have to say is a long flat and utterly desperate grade 1 slog (no pipes but 10" snow melt!) all the way to Spean Bridge. EXCEPT for the half-way falls (better name than railway bridge?). We paddled this section with the Roy fairly stonking (over quartz ledge at Roy Bridge) and the 1 1/2m ledge in the middle of this trip creeps up almost invisibly and river left is one very ugly deep circulating stopper with a tow back that some weirs would be proud of. Don't go there. It is possible to pick your way to some sort of island/bank thing on river right, inspect and it was shootable down a ramp on the right - the exit from which is guarded by an annoying placed boulder to pin on. The left is definitely a nasty 4 at this level and the right 3+ to 4 depending on that rock... Leaders keep a good eye out for it. Middle Spean is grade 1 (4) and it lulls you into a very false sense of security! A scary proposition for a novice group where the rest of the river would be fine!' APPROX LENGTH: 3 miles. TIME NEEDED: One hour. ACCESS SITUATION: The river is in a National Nature Reserve. So killing and eating the wildlife is probably out. 'I'm the local Area Officer for Scottish Natural Heritage, and we own the National Nature Reserve in Glen Roy. I would like to confirm that there is no problem at all with access to the River through the NNR. The southern boundary of the NNR lies at the viewpoint in the Glen, and the northern boundary lies just slightly short of the end of the public road in the Glen. The River Roy forms the eastern boundary. Ground north of the NNR is owned by Braeroy Estate, and ground south of the NNR is owned by Forest Enterprise. The crofters do ask that car drivers drive carefully in the Glen during the lambing season, as there have been one or two problems in the past.' - Best wishes, Debbie Greene Area Officer, East Lochaber. WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: At Roybridge, if you can see a rocky reef uncovered in the river to your left looking upstream, it will be low. If it's completely covered, the river is high and continuous grade 3. GRADING: Grade 3. MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: Trees should be watched out for. GENERAL DESCRIPTION: This makes a great trip for the intermediate paddler, with straightforward rapids of Grade 2 and 3. It begins by passing under an old bridge which isa possible access point to the river (see above). Shortly after, you see the Allt Glas Dhoire come in from the left. The valley opens out and the rapids flow over boulders with few real hazards to avoid. After about a couple of miles, the Allt Ionndrainn enters from the right, a possible short paddle when you've finished? Not long after, rodeo paddlers will no doubt spot a tempting 'splat' wall on the right which works well in high water. Roybridge comes into view, and it's all over. If you want to carry on into the River Spean, note that there is a grade 3+ rapid between the bridge and the River Spean which is slightly harder than anything else encountered on the Lower Roy. OTHER NOTES: In high levels, a superb intermediate trip. Now go and do the River Spean or the Allt Ionndrainn? CONTRIBUTED BY: Mark Rainsley, also Debbie Greene and David Lloyd. |
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