Visit Kilchurn Castle: A photogenic castle ruin in Scotland's Majestic Highlands
The Kilchurn Castle ruin is a picturesque, medieval fortress located on a peninsula in Loch Awe, Scotland. This castle situated in the Scottish highlands is certainly worth a visit. I made a stop here during a road trip through Scotland in 2016.
In this blog post, you'll learn where to find Kilchurn Castle, a little bit about the past of this historic site and how to take some good travel photos here.
Table of Contents
Know before you go to Kilchurn Castle
Where is Kilchurn Castle located?
Kilchurn Castle is located in the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland, near the town of Dalmally. From Dalmally, continue for about 3 minutes on the A85. Just before you cross the river Orchy, you can see the castle from the road. Now, turn left into a small car park. You missed it if you crossed the bridge. Here's a map showing the position of the car park of Kilchurn Castle.
If you prefer Apple Maps, here's an Apple Map Link for Kilchurn Castle.
From the car park, you'll have to walk for about 15 minutes to get to Kilchurn castle. Just following the sign. Yes, there is only one right next to the car park.
Sign from car park to Kilchurn Castle
When I visited the castle ruin in 2016, cell phone coverage was non-existent in this area. So my built-in car navigation system, which relied on cell coverage, was useless. But the friendly people in Dalmally, though difficult to understand for a non-English speaker like me, were very helpful to finding the castle.
Can you visit Kilchurn Castle?
In 2016, when I visited the castle ruin, you could not visit the interior. But honestly, the castle is so picturesque from the outside, that I didn't mind. Please note, that the path to the castle is on a peninsula. Thus, the path is inaccessible during floods, which may occur after heavy rains. So check the weather before you visit Kilchurn castle.
History of Kilchurn Castle
Kilchurn castle belonged to the Clan Campell who dominated the central Highlands for almost two centuries. Kilchurn Castle was the first of several castles built by the Clan Campell in the 15th century. The Clan used the castle until 1760, when it was badly damaged during a heavy thunderstorm and lightning and thus abandoned. So Kilchurn castle is more than 6 centuries old.
Today, the Historic Environment Scotland takes care of the castle.
Photos of Kilchurn Castle
After a 5-minute walk from the car park, you should be on a trail with Kilchurn Castle right in front of you. This is the first spot to get great photos of the Castle. If you're lucky and visit after a rain shower, you may get a beautiful sky. So be sure to include that in your photo.
Trail to Kilchurn Castle
As I've mentioned, the castle ruin is located on a peninsula. Therefore, after a rain shower, the areas left and right of the trail may be very muddy. So check carefully if you want to leave the path to get a different perspective photo of the castle.
The castle was built on a small hill on the peninsula. That makes a great foreground for a photo of it. When composing the shot, I put the tree in front of the castle slightly to the right to be able to capture the left wall entirely. That makes the photo intentionally a bit asymmetrical.
Closeup of Kilchurn Castle in the Scottish Highlands
ou can walk around the castle which may give you some additional great perspectives of Kilchurn Castle.
How I took the photos of Kilchurn Castle
I used an iPhone 6S and ProCamera app, which is one of my recommended iPhone camera apps I've been using for years. For more details why I love this camera app, please check my ProCamera App review.
The previous photo is one of the rare occasions where I used HDR in ProCamera app. Because of the bright sky and the dark walls of the castle, I used the AMEB mode, which allows me to set each exposure bias (for high-, mid- and low exposure) manually. For this photo, I set the middle exposure bias to -0.5 and the low exposure bias to -1 to get the sky right. To brighten the shadows of the castle walls, I increased the high exposure bias to +2.5.
AMEB Mode in ProCamera
I first used SKRWT app to fix the perspective distortion and then added finishing touches in Lightroom Mobile. To learn more about these two apps, please visit mySKRWT app review and my extensive review of Lightroom mobile.
Is Kilchurn Castle worth visiting?
I'm happy that I visited Kilchurn Castle. It's a beautiful, medieval, castle. Plan around 60 to 90 minutes for visiting the castle, including the walk from and to the car park. And if you've seen Harry Potter, continue on A85 once you've visited Kilchurn castle. At the intersection of A85 and A82, turn left and head to the famous Glenfinnan viaduct. That's the train-bridge that you'll see in a Harry Potter movie. It's a 2-hour drive from Kilchurn castle.
To learn more and if you can visit the interior of Kilchurn Castle, please check the official website of the Historic Environment Scotland and Kilchurn Castle.
