Tying up to the pontoon below the architecturally desperate Isles of Glencoe Hotel (ph 01764 651843) is a bit like coming to rest in a slate quarry, which of course is exactly what this once was, indeed most of Ballachulish was. But it is often cluttered with local boats so a better bet is half-a-mile to the east where you will find visitor moorings off the Glencoe Boat Club and a loading pontoon with water and power (attached to the buoys you will find the club's BACS details to facilitate paying, something I have not seen before). I imagine using the outboard to get the dinghy across to Eilean Munde is doable if anchoring there is not on for some reason.
Behind the not at all bad information centre and café in the village you can walk round the very impressive old slate quarry which started production in the late 17th century, and dwindled to nothing by 1955. It seems far larger than any of the slate quarries on the Slate Islands off Easdale, and it is better signed. Oddly it all reminds me of the remains of the First World War trenches in Northern France and Belgium, maybe something to do with the small lakes filling the abandoned quarries, and everything now covered in mature trees and bushes where once there was industrial devastation. While walking ponder on the whereabouts of all the slate that once came out of this place. Slates from here and the Easdale area must have roofed most of Scotland until recently (now it is all dull uniform foreign slates from Spain, China and other countries). Roofers can easily tell the difference between these two types of slate, even from street level. A small track to the left towards Glencoe leads in a few minutes to a rather remarkable slate arch built in 1822, now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Slate from the quarry was transported over the arch to the shore, and so on to boats for export, before the railway arrived in 1903.
The unexciting village has a very good Co-op, and a hardware store. And The Laroch, a rather nice restaurant which caters as much for children as for adults who want a good meal. Particularly note the very classy desserts (ph 01855 811940). And there is a bar.
The mountaineering-minded could quite easily do the splendid Ballachulish Horseshoe, but that would take most of the day. The golfers might like to try the Dragon's Tooth 9-hole course, now with the rather dull and Surrey-like name of 'Woodlands', but it is a bit of a walk along the main road to get there (walking I am told is what golfers enjoy).
You can get a meal and a drink in the Isles of Glencoe Hotel, and maybe a bath too if you ask, there is a small swimming pool which might do instead. And there is (or maybe once was) an adventure playground for the kids just up from the pontoons, with a nice view of Eilean Munde surprisingly close, close enough to see the gravestones if you know what you are looking for.
This is not a wildly attractive place to stop for the night, maybe a bit too much noise from the very busy road is a minus, but then there are not many safe anchorages in the loch, and it is a good place to stock up.
