Invermoriston is a small village on the west shore of Loch Ness, 13 miles (19 minutes) south of Drumnadrochit, where the A887 turns west up Glenmoriston, the road towards Skye. Its sight is the River Moriston falls, seen from an old stone bridge usually credited to Thomas Telford, with a short woodland path to a summer house above the gorge.
Invermoriston is a small village on the west shore of Loch Ness, 12.7 miles (19 minutes) south of Drumnadrochit on the A82. The reason to stop is the falls: the River Moriston pours through a rocky gorge right beside the main road, under an old two-arched bridge usually credited to Thomas Telford. Park in the village, walk onto the old bridge, and add the short path through Falls Wood if you have half an hour.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Drive from Drumnadrochit | 12.7 miles, about 19 minutes |
| Drive from Fort Augustus | 6.6 miles, about 10 minutes |
| Drive from Inverness | 27.7 miles, about 43 minutes |
| Bus | Citylink 919, Inverness to Fort William, about 10 a day each way on weekdays |
| Parking | Invermoriston village car park, non-payment, 24-hour maximum in the council’s 2026 parking order |
| Entry | Free |
Checked October 2026. Drive times by OSRM routing, free-flow.
The River Moriston comes down Glenmoriston from the west and drops through a chain of rapids and small falls as it reaches the village, a short way before it enters Loch Ness. The best view is from the old bridge, looking down into the gorge. Downstream of the modern road bridge, a summer house sits on a wooded cliff above the river; the Glenmoriston community website describes “the short walk through Falls Wood” to reach it.
Two things move in the white water. Salmon are often seen jumping the falls, and kayakers come too, because a hydro dam a few miles upstream releases extra water once a week through the summer.
The rocks are slippery and the river is fast, so stay on the bridge and the path.
The old bridge is the village’s best-known sight, and its history is less tidy than the signs suggest. The local information board says work started in 1805 and finished in 1813, and calls it one of nearly a thousand bridges Thomas Telford built between 1800 and 1819. The Glenmoriston community site also gives 1813, and says the bridge carried all traffic until the current road bridge replaced it in 1933.
Historic Environment Scotland, which lists it at Category B, is more careful. Its listing describes a two-span rubble bridge that is “commonly believed to be by Thomas Telford” but looks structurally mid-18th century, and says it was incorporated into the road Telford built for the Commission for Highland Roads and Bridges in 1808 to 1811. Either way, it has been bypassed for nearly a century, and the parapet was partly rebuilt in 1984.
The information board on site asks visitors to help conserve the bridge by leaving the stonework alone.
The Glenmoriston Arms Hotel was closed for refurbishment in October 2026, with no reopening date on its website.
By car: follow the A82 south from Drumnadrochit along the loch for about 19 minutes, or north from Fort Augustus for 10. Highland Council’s 2026 draft parking order lists the village car park as a non-payment car park with a 24-hour maximum stay; it was in the council’s donation scheme in 2023, so you may see an honesty box.
By coach: the Citylink 919 between Inverness and Fort William stops in the village, and in October 2026 it ran about ten times a day each way on weekdays. From Drumnadrochit it is one stop down the line, so you can pair Invermoriston with Fort Augustus in a car-free half day. Check times with Citylink.
On a tour: the small-group lap of the loch from Inverness stops here on its way round, between Fort Augustus and the finish at Urquhart Castle.
On foot: walk the Great Glen Way stage from Drumnadrochit, and catch the 919 back.
Yes, for half an hour, if you are driving the A82 anyway. It costs nothing, the falls are a few minutes on foot from the car park, and the bridge is a good photograph in any weather. It is not worth a special trip on its own; pair it with Fort Augustus, 10 minutes further south, and the Loch Ness viewpoint there.
For somewhere to stay, Drumnadrochit has the most choice on this shore, 19 minutes north. Compare it with Fort Augustus and the other villages in where to stay at Loch Ness, and see things to do at Loch Ness for the rest of the loch.
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On the west shore of Loch Ness, about 7 miles north of Fort Augustus and 13 miles south of Drumnadrochit, at the junction of the A82 and the A887. The A887 heads west up Glenmoriston, and day trips from Inverness to Skye leave the loch here. It is in the Highland council area, postcode district IV63.
It is usually credited to him. The local information board and community website date it to 1813, and Telford took it into the road he built for the Commission for Highland Roads and Bridges in 1808 to 1811. Historic Environment Scotland's listing, though, says the stonework looks mid-18th century, so he may have reused an older bridge. A new road bridge replaced it in 1933.
Yes. The old bridge has been bypassed by the 1930s road bridge and is open to people on foot, and standing on it gives the best view of the falls below. The information board asks visitors not to disturb the stonework, which has suffered vandalism. Take care on wet rocks around the river, which runs fast through the gorge.
Often, according to the Glenmoriston community website, which says salmon and kayakers can both be seen in the white water. Kayakers come because a hydro dam a few miles upstream releases extra water once a week through the summer. Salmon sightings depend on the water level and the season, so nothing is guaranteed.
Take the Citylink 919 coach, which runs between Inverness and Fort William along the A82 and stops at Invermoriston as well as Drumnadrochit, Urquhart Castle and Fort Augustus. In October 2026 it ran about ten times a day each way on weekdays. The Great Glen Way also links Drumnadrochit and Invermoriston on foot, a stage of about 22 to 23.5 km.
Fort Augustus is the village at the south-west end of Loch Ness, 19 miles (27 minutes) from Drumnadrochit and about 50 minutes from Inverness.
Dundreggan Rewilding Centre is Trees for Life's free visitor centre on the A887 in Glenmoriston, six miles west of Invermoriston and about 19 miles (27 minutes) from Drumnadrochit.
The Great Glen Way is a waymarked trail of about 79 miles (127 km) from Fort William to Inverness, usually walked in five to seven days.
The best things to do at Loch Ness are Urquhart Castle, a cruise, The Loch Ness Experience, the Falls of Foyers, Fort Augustus and its canal locks, and Dores Beach.