All the way back during our trip to the West Highlands in April, we took a day trip up to Glen Affric in Inverness-shire. Glen Affric is one of Scotland’s best kept secrets, full of ancient pinewood forest and beautiful waterfalls. While word is getting out there, and there are undoubtedly an increasing number of people visiting the area, it’s certainly not as busy as hotspots on the NC500 or the Isle of Skye.
After a quick stroll around Plodda Falls in the morning, we still had plenty of time, so we hopped in the car and drove across to the Forestry car park at Dog Falls. The car park is pay and display, with plenty of spaces for visitors and a toilet block. We had a peruse of the information board and decided to follow the linear trail up to the Glen Affric Viewpoint, although we will definitely have to return another day to do the rest of the walks (I spent a good 5 minutes dilly-dallying trying to decide which walk I wanted to do the most).
The viewpoint trail is a linear walk of about a mile each way. Clearly signed from the car park, navigation was extremely easy and followed a well surfaced track nearly all the way. We set off by crossing the river via a bridge: the views here reminded me a little of the Cairngorms, with rocky riverbanks and pine trees towering over the water. Soon the path heads uphill, following the Affric Kintail way to climb steadily up to the viewpoint.
Mostly the views are hidden by the trees, with just a glimpse here and there of the distant hills. Before long we reached a marker stating ‘end of way-marked trail’, with a small path leaving the main track which takes you to the view point.
After the walk up through the trees, I wasn’t expecting the viewpoint to be as open and far reaching as it was. We were both wowed by the view, which looks down over Glen Affric with the mountains rising in the background – we could immediately see why this is the trail recommended for photographers! We were even lucky enough that a light dusting of snow was still clinging on to the background.
While we were there we met a some ladies who were having their lunch break on day 3 of walking the Affric Kintail Way – we had a lovely chat, and they’ve certainly convinced me that we need to try a long distance trail. Maybe once we’ve finished bagging the Wainwrights…
We spent a while just admiring the view, before retracing our steps back to the car. I have to say I was surprised that we didn’t see more people out on the trail given how busy the car park was, but they must have all been out on one of the other trails.
Dog friendly rating – 4/5. This is a great dog walk, with no stiles, livestock or other obstacles, and the trees should help keep cool on warmer days. I’ve just knocked a point off as there may be times when you need to keep your dog close to avoid steep drops.
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