Watch unique national park steamship and cycling experience - with "better scenery" than Loch Lomond

Cycle hire firm director Jason Clark is extolling the unique virtues of touring Loch Katrine by boat and bike - and reckons the experience trumps anything else in the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.

The loch is credited as the birthplace of Scottish tourism after being popularised by artists and writers in the 1790s. The visitor influx surged when Sir Walter Scott set his poem The Lady of the Lake there, triggering the arrival of some 500 coaches within a year of its publication in 1810.

Three decades later, the first steamer began sailings in a tradition continued by the fourth such vessel, Sir Walter Scott, which celebrates its 125th birthday next year, still with its original engine.

Modern day visitors wanting more than a cruise can rent a bike from Mr Clark’s firm Katrine Wheelz at the east end of the loch and take it aboard for the 50-minute trip to Stronachlachar near the west end. Sailings have carried up to nearly 70 bikes.

Riders can then return along a well-maintained private road along the north side of the loch only accessible to residents’ and Scottish Water vehicles - as the loch provides Glasgow’s principal water supply, of 150 million gallons a day.

The expansion of Katrine Wheelz reflects the increasing popularity of the route, with the business growing from 40 to more than 100 bikes - including tandems and dog trailers - over the last four years.

Mr Clark said electric bikes had seen the greatest demand, with numbers rising from two to 21 and plans to increase their proportion of the fleet.

He said: “A lot of people are quite sniffy about electric bikes - they've never tried them and think it's cheating somehow.

“But once they try it, they're converted. On this route, there's a few big hills, but on an electric bike it feels like someone is pushing you up the steep bits.

“One of the most rewarding parts of this job are the smiles you see on people's faces when they come back after a day's cycling because they've had an amazing experience.”

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The Scotsman audio visual specialist John Devlin, who rode an electric bike for the first time on the round-loch trip last Thursday, was an instant convert.

He said: “That's a game changer - oh my word, that's lovely. Almost instantly, I got my mind set on buying one.” 

However, Mr Clark said the major selling point was the quiet route.

He said: “Loch Lomond is the big hitter which everyone's heard of as an iconic destination, but the scenery here is as beautiful if not better, but without the noise from the cars from the main A82 road.

“It's so much nicer. With no traffic, it's safer for families with little kids. Lots of Europeans and North Americans can't believe how good the cycling experience is here.”

The route is also perfect for cyclists with disabilities who ride adaptive bikes, such as Edinburgh power engineer Dwayne Telford. His multiple sclerosis forced him to switch to an three-wheel recumbent electric model, which is powered by his arms.

He said: “I have been losing mobility over the last ten years and it’s became harder and harder to ride a normal, upright cycle.

“I came across the [Callander-based] Adaptive Riders Collective who introduced me to hand bikes. It’s given me the opportunity to keep doing something that I love.” Jane Wilkinson, a support and development worker for the collective, said: “I’m a late adopter to cycling. When I was in my mid-40s, my daughter started cycling at school and joined mountain biking and road cycling clubs.

“Initially, I just ferried her in the car, but I decided I wanted to join in.

“I started with a beat-up old hybrid shopping bike which was pretty scary on downhill tracks, but one day my daughter handed me a mountain bike.

“The world suddenly opened up and I got the bug for cycling. I am fitter and healthier and happier now than I have been in years.”

The Loch Lomond & Trossachs Countryside Trust is seeking to get more people like her into cycling. Active travel officer Jim Riach wants to “normalise” the activity.

He said: “Loch Katrine is one of the classic cycling routes in the area, which has been used by more than 100 years. Electric bikes really open up possibilities that do not involve car-based journeys. Mr Riach pointed out that National Cycle Route 7 traversed the national park between Balloch and Killin, while “gravel riding”, such as on forestry tracks, was becoming increasingly popular and such routes provided off-road alternatives to busy main roads.

Ferrying cyclists across Loch Katrine is among duties for the Sir Walter Scott steamship, which is back for its first full season for five years after an £850,000 overhaul to repair cracked boilers. It can carry 205 passengers and some 20,000 a year.

Boatmaster Stuart Brain, who is also ships and visitor attraction manager, said: “It’s the last of its kind - the only screw-driven passenger steamer in regular service in the country.

“Loch Katrine is quite a special loch. It feels isolated but to me, it’s the bonniest loch in Scotland.

“You can see why literary figures like William Wordsworth and Sir Walter Scott based their works here and inspired so many people to follow in their footsteps. It’s a stunning area.”