Anyone who’s been following my blog for a while will know that for the last two years, we’ve headed to highland Perthshire in search of some of Britain’s very best autumn colours. There is just so much to do up there that both times, we’ve reached the end of the week and driven home feeling like there was so much we hadn’t gotten a chance to see. I therefore caved last year when I got a code for £40 off the cottage we’d stayed in, and booked another return trip! We had a fantastic week with mostly good weather (especially for the time of year), and explored lots of new places all around the area – including quite a few off the beaten track ‘hidden gems’ which aren’t quite as popular as other walks in the area. We even managed a day trip over to Angus, but I’ll save that for another blog…
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Lady Mary’s Walk & Laggan Hill
Usually we try and take it steady on the first day of a week away, with a half day, easier walk to ease us into the swing of things after what’s often a long drive up the day before. This time Sam picked out a 5.5 mile walk from Walkhighlands, which started from the Glen Turret Distillery and made its way through Crieff to Lady Mary’s Walk. From here, the route climbs up the tiddly Laggan Hill before returning to the start.
Parking at the distillery is plentiful and free, although we did pop into the gift shop afterwards in return for the parking. It was interesting walking through the grounds and learning about Towser, a previous Glen Turret distillery cat, who was entered into the Guinness book of records for catching a whopping 28,899 mice in her lifetime. It was a lovely quiet walk through the woods to Crieff, with autumn in full swing and lots of vibrant autumnal colours.
When we got to Crieff we walked through the park, which was surprisingly not that busy, with just a few other dog walkers out and about. Cutting through the park we crossed into the woods, following the river to eventually reach Lady Mary’s Walk. This impressive avenue has trees which are over 150 years old, with beech, oak, sweet chestnut and lime providing a fantastic spectrum of oranges, reds and yellow.
Quite a few other people were enjoying the colours on Lady Mary’s Walk, but the path was wide enough that everyone had plenty of space, and as soon as we branched off to climb up Laggan Hill it immediately become much quieter. The ascent is fairly steady and not too steep, with some good views back towards Crieff through the occasional gap in the trees.
At the top of the hill there’s a bench but not much of a view as you’re surrounded by trees on all sides. The descent back into Crieff is gentle, eventually emerging from the trees onto a farm track. We ended up accidentally going wrong here, not taking a signed path through a field of cows, instead walking along the field edge for 10 minutes or so before we realised we had been meant to turn off. Happily we managed to get out at the other end of the field rather than back tracking (and walking through a field of cows to boot!), walking back through Crieff to pick up the woodland trail back to the start.
Dog friendly rating: 4/5. There’s lots of opportunities for dogs to have a run off lead on this walk, both in the park and in the many woodland sections, and even a few paddling options. The route is stile free, with some sections of road walking at the start and end. You may encounter livestock towards the end of the walk.
Craigower
One of the walks I’d wanted to do on our previous visits (but run out of time for) was the short walk up Craigower near Pitlochry. This 3 mile circular walk was in our Pocket Mountains guide, and was the perfect option for the Sunday, where there was lovely weather forecast for the morning but rain in the afternoon.
There’s free parking at the foot of the path, just before it crosses the golf course. We got parked with no problems around 9am on a Sunday morning, but there’s only space for about 4 cars – otherwise it’s a long walk up the hill from the town centre!
From the start, the route is mostly way marked and heads steadily uphill through the golf course (watch out for flying golf balls!) before entering the woods. We wound our way steadily up the hill, emerging in what felt like no time into a cleared area near the top. There’s a lot to be said for starting high up! At the top there are great views, in one direction down over Pitlochry and the river, and in the other Schiehallion and Loch Tummel. It’s hard to pick a favourite view, both were great and we had the top entirely to ourselves (plus a random off-lead staffie who had clearly out paced its owner, but who thankfully ran off before Coal could have too much of a meltdown).
The walk down is even gentler than the walk up – one of the reasons I love our Scotland visits is all these easy hills with cracking views. It uses forest tracks before re-joining the path through the golf course to return to the start. We had a near miss with a flying golf ball, but it luckily landed about a metre short of us!
Dog friendly rating – 5/5. Aside from the golf course, dogs could happily be off lead for almost all of this walk. There are no stiles or obstacles to worry about, and the woods would provide plenty of shade on a warmer day.
Drummond Hill
Another walk which was on my list last year but which we didn’t get to was Drummond Hill near Kenmore. Signposted ‘forest walks’ from Kenmore, there are three forestry trails to choose from, although the longer hill fort trail has been closed since Storm Arwen due to destruction on the paths.
We did the Black Rock Trail, a roughly 3 mile out and back walk up to a view point. There’s a good sized free car park at the start, then a path heading gently up hill is the direction for all walks. The climb is steady but not strenuous, and the view point itself is stunning – possibly my favourite view of the week, with a beautiful view down over Kenmore perched on the shore of Loch Tay. Sam disagreed though, dubbing it just ‘alright’. You’ll have to let me know in the comments who you agree with!
There were a few other people milling around the trails at the same time as us, but unbelievably we had the view point to ourselves. I spent a good while faffing around with my camera trying to get a shot which captured how lovely it was, alas, I am not a photographer, so you might have to go and see it for yourself! Once we’d finished at the view point, it was simply a case of returning back the way we’d come.
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. This is an excellent dog walk, all off road and with woodland trails where your dog can run off lead.
Ben Gulabin
As the week went on, the weather forecast changed constantly: ranging from sunny spells to rain and back again. Normally we just play it by ear and pick walks based on where the weather looks best, but towards the end of the week we were lucky enough to get a fantastic day of non-stop sunshine (and no wind either!). It was Sam’s turn to pick and wanting something a bit quieter, he chose the Walkhighlands route up to the top of Ben Gulabin.
Located near the Spittal of Glenshee, this part of Perthshire is actually part of my favourite UK national park – the Cairngorms. We’d never ventured into this part of the national park before so we weren’t sure what to expect, but every time we drive past the Cairngorms national park sign we know we’re guaranteed a great walk.
Altogether the walk is around 4 miles, and starts from a small parking area at the bottom of the hill track just off the A93. There’s room here for about 4-5 cars if parked considerately, but make sure not to block access to the gate. The walk heads uphill straight away, climbing steadily for most of the way up before branching off for one final steeper section which leads to the summit plateau. This track could be missed if you’re just focused on the main Landrover track – it just looks like a muddy trail at first glance. It was steep and quite hard going, with deep mud slowing our progress – not helped by a flock of grouse who burst out of the heather and flew off down the hillside, with Merry very much wanting to follow and trying to drag me down the hill after them.
Once we got to the top, rather than going straight to the summit we followed the narrow but clear path running along the summit plateau, which leads to a cairn with good views down over Glen Shee. There’s a wind shelter here too, which makes it the perfect place to sit and enjoy lunch.
From the shelter we walked back across to where we’d climbed up, continuing a short way further to reach the summit. The views here are fantastic, and it almost felt like the walk had been too easy for how remote and mountainous the views were! That’s one of the reasons we have always loved the Cairngorms.
On our way back down we came across another walker, who we had a chat with about the views and how lovely they were, and how astonishingly quiet the hill was compared to some of other more popular hills. It’s odd how some become internet sensations, when really there are hundreds of fantastic hills all over Scotland (like Ben Gulabin) which no one has heard of.
Dog friendly rating: 3/5. This is a nice, quiet dog walk, which would really suit people (like us) with reactive dogs. When we visited stalking was in progress, so we respected signs asking walkers to stick to the tracks and kept our dogs on leads. Even if this wasn’t the case though, Merry would definitely have stayed on lead anyway – far too many tempting grouse flying all over the shop! The route is stile free, and there are a few small streams passed on the main Landrover track at the start and end.
Fiddler’s Path
Before we knew it, it was our last full day in Perthshire. After a busy week with plenty of walks, we decided to stick close to home and chose a 3 hour walk along the river from Dunkeld. The 5.5 mile circular was another route from Walkhighlands, and I principally chose it as it was almost completely flat. Tired legs after a jam packed week!
There’s a good sized pay and display car park off Atholl Street in Dunkeld, and the walk is sign posted from the back of the car park. Setting out on the good path, we passed Dunkeld’s historic cathedral and some very impressive trees as we followed a cycle path along the river. It was surprisingly quiet, especially given how lovely it was in autumn – not that we were complaining. We even spotted our only red squirrel of the week scampering up a tree just after we passed the Dunkeld House Hotel.
After a lovely few miles meandering along the Tay, the walk joins the A9 for a short way to cross the river. This was definitely our least favourite part of the walk, but there is at least a pavement. As soon as we’d crossed the bridge the route turned off onto a branch road, almost immediately leaving this to enter the woods. While the cycle path had been quiet, this footpath was even quieter – we didn’t see any other people until we were nearly back in Dunkeld.
This section isn’t quite as nice as the outward section of the walk, being a bit darker and not quite as colourful, but it’s not unpleasant by any stretch of the imagination. On tired legs after our busy week though, the detour near the end (as the footbridge was washed away in storms last year) felt a lot longer than it probably was. However, I was soon cheered up by a burger from the Craft Diner next to the car park!
Dog friendly rating: 4/5. There are lots of places on this walk where you could let your dogs off lead, however please respect signs asking for them to be kept under close control around the Dunkeld House Hotel, as well as the sections near the A9. Much of this walk follows the course of the river, so be mindful of this if your dog is likely to sprint off into the water – the currents here can be strong. The walk is stile and livestock free.
Where we stayed
After a wonderful stay last year, we returned to 1 Middleton Cottage in Caputh near Dunkeld. This cottage is perfect for us: clean and well equipped, spacious and super comfortable. It even has a log burner! The dogs also loved it, as it has an enormous enclosed garden. Since our last visit, wire netting has been added to dog-proof some of the gaps, so we were even able to let Merry run around off lead. Unfortunately though the cottage only seems to be available up until the end of 2024 – I’m hopeful that it’s just temporary unavailability while they do some redecorating or something, so thought I would share anyway.
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. Now that the garden is fully enclosed and Merry-proof, this definitely is one of the best dog friendly cottages we’ve stayed in. Spacious, with easy to keep clean floors, another bonus is the nice quiet setting with little passing traffic – we didn’t hear a peep out of Merry all week!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my blog today – we’ve got lots more exciting trips planned over the next few months, as well as my usual weekly walking updates, so subscribe below so that you never miss a post:
