Whenever we visit Highland Perthshire, I’m always riddled with indecision about which walks to do. There’s simply never enough time to do all the walks I want to do – never mind re-visiting previous favourites. On our last visit, our holiday cottage had a useful basket of leaflets for local things to do, including a forestry pamphlet with some suggested woodland trails around Grandtully. We very nearly did this walk on our last day, but in the end we picked a flatter walk along the river from Dunkeld – a week of walking always leaves me with tired legs (I am, afterall, an office potato Monday-Friday).
Fast forward to December this year and we were passing through Perthshire on our way up to Loch Ness. After a very soggy drive all the way from Yorkshire to Stirling, as we passed Perth the sky miraculously brightened and the rain granted us a temporary reprieve. Unable to resist, this felt like the perfect opportunity to make a quick dash off the A9 and up Caisteal Dubh: an ancient Pictish hill fort.
Sam was in charge of checking the route/time required for the walk while I was driving. Having looked on Walkhighlands, he reassured me it was a quick linear up and down that should take us about 90 minutes: perfect. However, my eyes nearly popped out of my head when we arrived and I saw the information board advising to allow two and a half hours – he’s got form for incorrect time estimations! Luckily for him it looks like the Forestry and Land Scotland route planners fall into a very conservative bracket of time estimation, and it did indeed only take us 90 minutes.
The route is very straightforward, heading steadily (not steeply) uphill on a good forest track, with the occasional red way marker to reassure you that you’ve not missed a turn somewhere along the way. Perthshire is one of my favourite places to come in autumn, but sadly the autumn colours were long gone by the second week of December. It was a bit grey and bleak as we climbed, but I was hoping we’d get a good view at the top to make up for the dull walk up.
Just shy of two miles after setting off, red way markers point you off the main track onto a rougher trail branching off up the hill. This track was boggier than the Walkhighlands bog rating of 1/5 had led me to believe, and it looked like I was going to end up with wet feet until Sam gallantly gave me a piggyback over the worst of the puddles. Lesson learned: in December, there are no walks suitable for trail running shoes!
Slightly damp feet aside, this track leads to the highlight of the walk: a panoramic view over the River Tay and surrounding countryside. There’s not much of the original hillfort left to see (at least to my non-expert eyes), but the top is decorated with some eye catching stone cairns which set the view off beautifully. The view certainly exceeded my expectations (I love it when that happens), especially as all I’d really hoped for was a quick leg stretch where we could all stay reasonably dry.
We couldn’t hang around for too long at the top, with another two and a half hours still to drive, so it was with regret that we began the walk back to the start. It’s a straightforward ‘retrace your footsteps route’, which to me always feel faster on the way back, although Sam was starting to get a bit peckish and therefore he felt like it took much longer.
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. We were able to have Coal off lead for all of this walk: there were no hazards or obstacles like stiles to worry about. He had a wonderful time doing wormies in the heather at the top! Merry stayed on the lead as he absolutely cannot be trusted not to disappear off into the woods and not come back, which is the last thing you want in the middle of a nine hour drive. This was a lovely quiet walk and we only saw one other couple walking their dog.
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