Glen Coe around Invercoe. In 1894 Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal purchased this area and built a stately mansion, Mount Royal. In 2002 Alistair MacDonald of Glencoe made a successful eleventh-hour bid, and purchased the remaining lands of Lord Strathcona from his descendants. Alistair received unsecured loans from just six donors, and immediately set up the Glencoe Heritage Trust, a non-profit-making charitable trust, to secure the heritage of this part of Glen Coe. Glen Coe is a very popular tourist destination: partly because of its scenic qualities and historical associations, partly because it is on the main road
Ben Nevis and Glen Coe National Scenic Area Douglas Ramsay to consider the issue proposed that five areas should receive a level of protection: "Glen Coe-Ben Nevis-Black Mount" was one of the areas listed. The area thus became one of five designated "national park direction areas", in which planning decisions taken by local authorities could be reviewed by central government under certain circumstances. A 1974 report by the Countryside Commission for Scotland (CCS) entitled "A Park System for Scotland" recommended that the Glen Coe-Ben Nevis-Black Mount area should be designated as one of four proposed "Special Parks", considering the area of national importance due to its natural beauty