Blackwater Hostel and Campsite

View prices & book 9 42 reviews
Level camping field
Level camping field
Grass pitches
Campsite
Views
Camp site
Views
The leven
Wild deer
1/30
Grass pitches
Campsite
Views

  • Campsite on the West Highland Way between Glencoe and Fort William
  • Five minutes’ walk to Ice Factor; 20 minutes’ drive to Ballachulish
  • Vending machine, showers and drying room; pubs five minutes’ walk
A well-equipped campsite five minutes’ walk from the long-distance West Highland Way, Blackwater Hostel and Campsite is a very smart stop for walkers, climbers, mountain bikers, photographers… in fact anyone who wants to get out into Lochaber’s wild Highland scenery – whether for a night passing through or a longer stay to explore the region. Why so smart? Well, the mountain and River Leven views are spectacular, and the site is 15 minutes' drive from the coast at Ballachulish and located right next to Ice Factor bouldering and climbing centre in the middle of Kinlochleven. This may be a small village but it has all necessary amenities like a supermarket, fish and chip shop and three pubs offering hearty bar meals – thankfully within walking distance as the site doesn’t have a kitchen. Facilities, however, do include free showers with hand soap, shower gel and shampoo provided. There are toilets, power sockets for charging phones and two drying rooms with commercial dehumidifiers (always useful on the west coast of Scotland). A covered seating area has a vending machine for snacks, a washing-up sink and wifi connectivity so you can keep in touch with home. Dogs are welcome on site, but please keep them on a lead.

Site type

Tent sites 35
Open now
Opens March 24
Please note
  • No bachelor/bachelorette parties permitted via Pitchup.com.
  • No cars/motorcycles at the site. All cars must be parked in the designated area.
  • At least one of the party members must be aged 16 or over.
  • The maximum tent size allowed is 2 x 2.4 metres. Regrettably, larger tents cannot be accommodated and will be turned away.

Languages spoken

English

Open from Mon, Mar 24 to

Reviews

9

Overall rating from 42 Pitchup.com customers

  • 61%
    10
  • 4%
    9
  • 23%
    8
  • 2%
    7
  • 4%
    6
  • 0%
    5
  • 0%
    4
  • 0%
    3
  • 2%
    2
  • 0%
    1
Location
 9
Value for money
 9
Accommodation
 9
Facilities / Activities
 9
Customer service
 9
Child friendliness
 8
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 9
Budget/backpacker

90% would recommend this site to a friend

86% would stay here again

What customers say

Praised for its lovely setting, great views, and nearby shops/pubs. Guests loved the clean facilities, hot showers, drying room, and communal kitchen. Staff are friendly and helpful. Downsides include tent pitch size, short shower times, and midges.

Summary AI-generated from Pitchup.com customer reviews

Reviews page 1 of 5
Arrival date (latest first)

Beautiful location Stunning views…

Overall

7 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Accommodation
 6
Facilities / Activities
 6
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 5
daniel m.

Primitive grass tent campsite

Liked Beautiful location
Stunning views

Recommend to friends Visit again

Great site…

Overall

9 out of 10
Location
 No rating
Value for money
 No rating
Accommodation
 8
Facilities / Activities
 8
Customer service
 9
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 9
Wifi
 10
Gerard M.

Primitive grass tent campsite

Liked Great site

Disliked None

Recommend to friends Visit again

Great site, quiet scenic location, staff friendly & helpful.

Overall

9 out of 10
Location
 9
Value for money
 10
Accommodation
 10
Facilities / Activities
 10
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 6
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 9
Anonymous

Primitive grass tent campsite

Liked Facilities are great, kettle and microwave as well as reasonably priced vending machines. Bathrooms and showers clean. Location is brilliant with shops and pubs serving food within 5 minute walk. Staff were very friendly and helpful.

Disliked Showers are timed to fairly short bursts which is annoying but manageable.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Don’t book unless you have an excessively small tent

Overall

2 out of 10
Location
 6
Value for money
 2
Accommodation
 2
Facilities / Activities
 2
Customer service
 4
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 No rating
Wifi
 No rating
Anonymous

Primitive grass tent campsite

Liked Campsite very responsive via email

Disliked Ridiculously small tent size allowance, meaning I couldn’t camp there with a standard sized 2 man tent, and as I booked just a few days before I didn’t get the money back when I realised this either. We didn’t stay there but lost £90.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Basic and adequate. Friendly feel. It's a WHW backpackers site.

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 8
Accommodation
 6
Facilities / Activities
 6
Customer service
 6
Child friendliness
 6
Cleanliness
 8
Wifi
 8
Anonymous

Primitive grass tent campsite

Liked Quiet, friendly, co-op nearby. Pubs nearby.
Decent shower.

Disliked Camping cooking area is pokey. No sockets to recharge devices.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Great location and relaxed atmosphere. Food and drink handy.…

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Accommodation
 10
Facilities / Activities
 10
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 8
Cleanliness
 8
Wifi
 10
john l.

Primitive grass tent campsite

Liked Great location and relaxed atmosphere. Food and drink handy.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Nice locale. Good facilities and very helpful staff.…

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Accommodation
 10
Facilities / Activities
 10
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 10
Geoffrey C.

Primitive grass tent campsite

Liked Nice locale. Good facilities and very helpful staff.

Disliked N/a

Recommend to friends Visit again

Generally, excellent.

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 8
Accommodation
 8
Facilities / Activities
 8
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 No rating
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 10
Juanita A.

Primitive grass tent campsite

Liked Hot water, kitchen area with kettle and micriwave, charging station
WiFi, drying room, showers, well kept grounds. Choice of accommodation if not in a tent.

Disliked Tents pitched on top of each other, not always considerate campers.

We booked two nights, locked out of toilets 12-3pm which was a bit of a surprise and great inconvenience to incontinent guests!

Recommend to friends Visit again

Facilities clean and adequate

Overall

8 out of 10
Location
 8
Value for money
 8
Accommodation
 6
Facilities / Activities
 10
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 6
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 2
Andrew C.

Primitive grass tent campsite

Liked Spot by the river
Pub near by served food

Disliked Tent pitches to close together cramped.Only 1 meter apart.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Lovely site, small but not too crowded. Bathrooms were clean and comfortable.…

Overall

10 out of 10
Location
 10
Value for money
 10
Accommodation
 10
Facilities / Activities
 10
Customer service
 10
Child friendliness
 10
Cleanliness
 10
Wifi
 8
katie p.

Primitive grass tent campsite

Liked Lovely site, small but not too crowded. Bathrooms were clean and comfortable. Drying rooms were brilliant and the little kitchen area was a nice treat.would definitely stay again

Recommend to friends Visit again

Features

Dogs allowed

Leisure on park

Bar or club house Cycle hire Evening entertainment Fishing Fitness centre Indoor swimming pool Kids' club On-site restaurant/cafe Outdoor swimming pool Playground Recreation room/arcade TV room Takeout Tennis Watersports

Amenities on park

Bath available Composting toilet Dog park Drying room Free wifi Grocery store Ice pack freezing Internet access Laundromat Parent & baby washroom Payphone Pick-up from public transport Picnic table Portable toilet Pub toilets Restrooms Shower available Washing-up area Wifi

Groups welcome

Family friendly Motorcycle friendly Scouts welcome Single-sex groups welcome Student groups welcome

Rules

Barbecue grills allowed Barbecue provided Campfires allowed Commercial vehicles allowed Dogs allowed Dogs allowed all year

Themes

Budget/backpacker Hikers’ paradise Spectacular scenery Wildlife haven

Utilities

Charging facilities Dump station Electric car charging point(s) Propane/gas cylinders available Recycling available Renewable energy

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby Convenience store nearby Dog walk nearby Public transportation nearby

Type

Medium (26-50 sites)

Nearby leisure

Climbing nearby Cycle hire nearby Cycling nearby Fishing nearby Golf nearby Mountain biking nearby Restaurant nearby Watersports nearby

Location

Blackwater Hostel and Campsite

Lab Road

Kinlochleven

Highlands and Islands

Scotland

PH50 4SG

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London +0100 (GMT+01:00)

GPS

56.7144°N
4.96006°W

Nearest transport

Coach
34.8 km Pine Trees Leisure Park
45.5 km Hotel
Rail
14.8 km Fort William Rail Station
16.6 km Banavie Rail Station
17.3 km Corrour Rail Station
Ferry
14.8 km Fort William Ferry Landing
16.1 km Camusnagaul Ferry Landing
16.9 km Nether Lochaber Ferry Terminal
Airport
38.7 km Oban (North Connel) Airport

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Local attractions

Keen walkers have a wealth of choices for their rambles, from the West Highland Way (five minutes’ walk) to the Glencoe Lochan Trail (20 minutes' drive), which follows family-friendly paths through forest. Landmarks to point your compass towards include Signal Rock (20 minutes), the popular viewpoint at The Meeting of Three Waters (25 minutes) and a testing trek up to Steall Waterfall (55 minutes), the second-highest falls in Scotland In summer, there is more hiking and cycling around Glencoe Mountain Resort (35 minutes’ drive), or you can head up to Fort William (40 minutes) to access the cycling and hiking trails of the Ben Nevis foothills. Meanwhile, for a physical challenge on rainy days, the indoor ice-climbing wall at Ice Factor (five minutes’ walk) keeps daredevils happy. Learn more about the dark secrets of the area at Glencoe Visitor Centre - National Trust for Scotland (20 minutes), and take some time admiring the views over Loch Leven at the Ballachulish Peninsula viewpoint (20 minutes’ drive).

Water quality at nearby bathing waters

Name Distance Type 2020201920182017
Ganavan 43.8 km Sea N/AExcellentExcellentExcellent

Data source: European Environment Agency

Must see

Glencoe Visitor Centre 11.6 km

West Highland Museum 14.7 km

Ben Nevis Distillery 15.1 km

Nevis Range Cable Cars 15.3 km

Treasures of the Earth 17.7 km

Cycle routes

Find local routes on the National Cycle Network - over 12,000 miles of cycling routes.

Other

Round Buachaille Etive Beag 5.7 km

Glen Nevis Gorge and Steall Waterfall 7.4 km

Glen Nevis - The Lower Falls to Steall Falls 7.7 km

The Lower Falls of Glen Nevis 7.7 km

Ben Nevis via the Mountain Track 11.6 km

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Nearest sites

Unfortunately, we have no nearby bookable sites.

Want to know more about camping in Highlands and Islands?

Frequently asked questions

  • Does Blackwater Hostel and Campsite have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Blackwater Hostel and Campsite dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Blackwater Hostel and Campsite? Keen walkers have a wealth of choices for their rambles, from the West Highland Way (five minutes’ walk) to the Glencoe Lochan Trail (20 minutes' drive), which follows family-friendly paths through forest. … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Blackwater Hostel and Campsite?
    RV, travel trailer and tent sites
    Arrive:  3 p.m. –  9 p.m.
    Depart by:  10:30 a.m.
    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Blackwater Hostel and Campsite? From $54.87 (for 1 night, 2 adults) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.