When we go to Scotland, we generally don’t decide which walks we’re planning to do until the day before the walk. We might have a short list with a few ideas on it, but generally there’s too much uncertainty over the weather to fully commit to a particular walk more than a few days in advance! This was the case during our last trip to Assynt: it was a bit miserable and overcast where we were staying, but checking the weather forecast the day before, we saw that the area around Golspie had brightened up considerably. Not ones to overlook a clear and sunny walk in Scotland, our decision was made to head across to the East coast for a day to explore two of Golspie’s main attractions: the Sutherland Monument at the top of Ben Bhraggie (locally referred to as the ‘wee mannie’) and Big Burn waterfall.
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Both Ben Bhraggie and Big Burn had their own routes in our Pocket Mountains guide, so we decided to combine the two into one longer walk. We parked in the pay and display car park behind the co-op in Golspie (£3 for 12 hours, not that you need this long!), and headed up the road to enter Ben Bhraggie Wood. This is a cracking forest, with multiple way marked walking and mountain biking trails, as well as well maintained paths. The way up Ben Bhraggie is mostly clearly signed (just a few way markers hidden by overgrown foliage), and we climbed steadily uphill until the trees started to thin out a little and views started to appear back towards Golspie and the coast. If you look closely, once you get higher you can just about spot the very tips of the towers of Dunrobin Castle.
Soon after leaving the trees and continuing up over moorland, the Sutherland Monument comes into view. This makes you think that you’re nearly at the top, however, don’t be deceived as the statue is simply so large that it looks like you’re nearly there when you’ve still got a good 20-30 minutes walking to go! Sam and Coal are the two tiny little dots next to the statue in this photo, which gives you an idea of the the scale (and how far behind Sam I’m usually lagging).
The Sutherland Monument is a bit controversial. The hundred foot tall statue was built in 1837 after the death of the Duke of Sutherland, a figure who was heavily involved in the Highland clearances, and the money to build the statue was raised by taxing the remaining tenants who hadn’t been evicted. In recent years there have been suggestions of blowing the monument up or, perhaps more likely, relocating the statue to the Duke’s home at Dunrobin Castle.
The monument marks the end of the uphill section of the walk, and there’s a nice, easy amble along open moorland before you drop back into the forest. This part of the walk is mostly flat, again on excellent tracks. We passed a number of large pools at the side of the path which upon closer inspection were absolutely full to bursting with newts: we must have counted at least a dozen in one pond!
After passing over the top of the moor, with good views of the neighbouring hills, the path descends very gently back into the forest. Remaining on good tracks and still descending gradually, we eventually came to a junction which was signposted ‘Big Burn link path’, which we followed to reach the woods around the waterfall. We were on a higher path and very nearly missed out completely on the waterfall, until Sam realised we’d missed the turning and we retraced our steps to visit the falls. I was so glad we did, as the waterfall here is beautiful. Accessed via a wooden walkway, you don’t see the falls until the very last second when you turn the corner to find yourself face to face with them.
The walk back down through the woods at Big Burn is a delight, with green coming from all angles and surprisingly few people. You criss-cross the river using a series of beautifully maintained wooden bridges, before emerging at the small parking area to follow the road (pavement walking) back into Golspie and the start.
Dog friendly rating – 5/5. The excellent paths on this walk are completely stile free, and a good two thirds of the route passes through woodland where we could let the dogs off lead without worrying about deer or livestock. If you’re doing the full route on a warm day, it’s worth taking some extra water for your dog, as up on the moor it is quite exposed and they might get fairly warm. While there was a half mile section of road walking at the end, there was a pavement for all of this which meant that we didn’t need to worry about looking out for cars behind us the whole time!
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