Last week’s blog was all about what we got up to in the first half of our trip to Highland Perthshire. Before we arrived, the weather forecast was so bad that I wasn’t sure we’d be doing enough walks to fill one blog post, let alone two! But maybe the Met Office was being overly pessimistic, because in the end we did manage to get out somewhere every day. This blog post is about the second half of the week, so if you missed last week’s post, go back and read it to find out about the earlier walks we did.
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St Fillans View over Loch Earn
Did you know that Perthshire creeps into both the Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national parks? We’ve always driven up to the Cairngorms via Perthshire, so we knew that the Cairngorms start not long after you pass Pitlochry, but I hadn’t realised that Perthshire also has a footprint in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs (albeit a fairly small one). Therefore I was pleasantly surprised when we pulled up in St Fillans to do a walk up over the village and drove past a sign welcoming us to the national park – you learn something new every day.
This was yet another route from our trusty Pocket Mountains guide. A circular route which took us around two hours, we parked for free in a large lay-by just after the Four Seasons hotel on the edge of the village. Immediately we were greeted with a beautiful view across Loch Earn – it was so lovely in fact that it was hard to tear ourselves away and start the uphill climb that kicks off the walk!
The ascent up through the woods lingers somewhere between steep and not steep (how useful is that as a description). It’s not what I’d call gentle, but it didn’t have me gasping for breath and needing to stop. The trees were a lovely mix of greens, reds and oranges, and as you climb you start to get lovely views back over Loch Earn.
Eventually we left the woods to walk up over open moorland to a surge shaft for St Fillans’ hydro electric power station – itself not particularly scenic, but there’s a great view point here looking out over the Loch and surrounding hills, including Ben Vorlich, one of Scotland’s most popular Munros. Sam enjoyed a lie down on the picnic bench while I spent far longer than is respectable trying to get a photo of the dogs with the view in the background – I’ll include it at the end of this section, let me know if it was worth it!
After enjoying the view, we dropped back down into the woods to loop back around to the village. We passed another view point with a picnic bench (a bit less exposed than the one higher up), dropping down through the trees gradually to emerge back in the village, where it’s a short walk along the pavement back to the car.
The tracks here are in great condition, well surfaced and easy to walk on – not a bog fest like all too many English woodland walks. It’s one of the reasons I love walking in Scotland so much – I don’t know if we’ve just chosen well, but generally everything underfoot is so much better! The walk is well described in the guide which made navigation easy, but there are a number of trails criss crossing the woods so make sure to keep one eye on directions so you don’t get muddled.
Dog friendly rating – 4/5. This walk is mostly through woodland and great for letting dogs stretch their legs off lead, but do keep an eye out for drops as the path zig zags up to the viewpoint. We didn’t see any livestock, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be there on another day, so do bear this in mind. There were no stiles and a short section walking along the pavement at the end. Overall, this was a lovely quiet walk, where we only saw one family and one couple (also walking their dog).
Loch Leven NNR
Usually, we head to the areas around Pitlochry or Crieff for walks. However, the Wednesday of our trip was very, very wet, the precursor to Storm Ciaran as it swept across Scotland on its way to wreak havoc in the south. While the weather where we were in Scotland was nowhere near as bad as it would be in England, it was still not a day when we wanted to be outside for an extended period of time. We spent much of the morning watching the weather, and finally a dry window appeared in the late afternoon in Kinross.
We hopped into the car and drove across to Loch Leven NNR. An important site for migrating birds, the loch welcomes about 10,000 visitors every winter, and is a popular walk for locals. In summer, the loch is also home to visiting ospreys who hunt for fish in the water.
There is a flat, well surfaced trail which runs around the perimeter of the loch – a total of around 13 miles if you were to walk it in its entirety. We parked for free at the Burleigh Sands car park. The trail is accessible and flat, making it a popular choice for both families with prams and cyclists. As we didn’t have long before the heavens re-opened, we just wandered along the shore for twenty minutes before turning around and retracing our steps.
Dog friendly rating – 4/5. This is a popular dog walk as the trail is flat and well maintained, with no dog obstacles that we encountered. There are several places where dogs could access the water, but please bear in mind that this is a nature reserve and if your dog is likely to disturb the birds, keep it on a lead.
Linn of Tummel
On Thursday, as Storm Ciaran was battering the south and most of Perthshire was under a rain cloud, the area around Pitlochry and Blair Atholl was miraculously dry. The walk we chose for the day was therefore a 6.75 mile circular route on Walkhighlands, close to Pitlochry, taking in the Linn of Tummel and Faskally Wood.
Parking was free in the car park by the Garry Bridge, just off the main road. We picked up the sign posted ‘Linn of Tummel Trail’ to start the walk, which mostly follows river and loch side woodland trails. This made navigation pretty straight forward for the most part, just making sure we kept the water on our right.
This walk was very autumnal, mostly walking through woods. Keep your eyes peeled for red squirrels, who we saw scampering along the paths when we got to Faskally Wood. The walk was mostly flat but there are plenty of steps scattered around the walk. Just after the half way mark there’s a bit of a slog along a quiet road – I hadn’t realised quite how long this section of the walk was and we were very happy to get back onto the riverside path at the Linn of Tummel.
The Linn of Tummel is a pretty waterfall and probably the most interesting feature on this walk, although it’s not as impressive as other local waterfalls like the Falls of Bruar. Still, it was a good leg stretch and it stayed dry, which is always a winner!
Dog friendly rating: 4/5. There are plenty of places where you can let your dog off the lead or into the water for a paddle on this walk, but do make sure to respect any signage instructing you to put them on a lead. There is a long section of road walking where there is nobpavement and care is needed, although the road isn’t particularly busy. There are no stiles and no livestock.
The Hermitage
We visited the Hermitage during our trip last year and it was one of my highlights – therefore, I wanted to come back this year and see it in all of its Autumn splendour. We stopped off here on our final day before heading home, and therefore rather than doing the longer walk we did last year, we just did an out and back up to Pine Cone Point – around three and a half miles in total.
There is a large pay and display car park just off the A9, which is free for National Trust members. Despite the size of the car park, it was getting on for full by the time we got back from our walk. From the car park, it’s an easy stroll through the woods to reach Ossian’s Hall, a folly dating from when the Hermitage was a designed pleasure garden for the Dukes of Atholl. Enter the folly and go out onto the balcony for an amazing vantage point over Black Linn Falls – the water was pounding over the falls and I was liberally misted with spray! Note that dogs are not permitted in Ossian’s Hall, but there is a tether point outside or you can take turns to go in like we did.
By Ossian’s Hall, there’s a small sign pointing you towards a view point – it’s only about a ten metre walk, and provides a cracking view of Ossian’s Hall and the bridge. We missed this last year, and I didn’t understand where people had been standing to snap a photo of the bridge on posts I’d seen on Instagram, so I was glad to finally solve the mystery!
One of the things that has struck me both times that we’ve visited here is the size of the trees, and according to the signs, the woods here are indeed home to some of Britain’s tallest trees. I especially liked the story on one of the signs which says that one of the Dukes of Atholl ordered a canon to be loaded with larch seed and fired onto a barren hillside – who knows if it’s true or not, but it’s a good tale.
Venturing deeper into the woods, we climbed up the hill to Pine Cone Point. The trail zig zags up the hill until you reach the folly, this one a rather whimsical giant pine cone – it looks right in the landscape though. The climb is another which is neither gentle nor steep – but the view at the top will keep you entertained while you get your breath back.
After this, we retraced our steps back to the car. It was much busier by the time we got back to Ossian’s Hall, with plenty of groups and families and no less than three Rabbie’s minibuses arriving as we left. It’s definitely a good one to arrive early!
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. This is a great walk with no stiles, and there’s plenty of room to let your dog off lead. Do keep other people in mind: we got charged by a very friendly labradoodle, who while very sweet caused Coal to have a total meltdown, and to consequently bark and growl at every child we passed for the rest of the walk (something he’s not done for nearly two years). Even if your dog is friendly, mine isn’t, and just a quick run in with one off lead dog sets us back months of training! I was especially annoyed as before the dog got to us I asked (nicely) if the lady could call her dog, which was totally ignored. She didn’t even try! Never mind…
Where we stayed
Unfortunately, I didn’t get any photos of the cottage we stayed in – it was either too rainy for outside photos, or I was too busy having a nice time relaxing to take any inside photos! We stayed in 1 Middleton Cottage in the village of Caputh near Dunkeld. The location is excellent and most walks in our Pocket Mountains guide could be reached in no more than an hour’s drive. We booked through Sykes Cottages – the property reference is 981711.
The cottage was better than I expected from the photos – the living room was much more spacious than it looks, and the sofa is that gold standard which pops out and reclines. The garden is huge and fully enclosed, however, if your dog can wiggle through small gaps (like Merry) they might be able to get under the gate.
And that’s it! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about our Perthshire adventure – we certainly had a great time (so much so that we’ll definitely be back next year too). If you’ve enjoyed reading this blog today, subscribe below so that you never miss a post.
