Winter walk around Pitlochry

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I want to share with you my winter walk around Pitlochry, Scotland. I was lucky enough to have a few days in Scotland in November and wanted to see some of the beautiful countryside. An additional constraint was that I was travelling by train and foot. I wanted to make the most of my time and was looking for places where there was easy access to walks and tourist activities, by foot, from the train station. In the end I chose Pitlochry, Perth and Edinburgh. I took a winter walk around Pitlochry on one of the days.

Getting there by train

It was very easy with direct trains from Edinburgh and hotels in the town centre which is only a short walk from the station. To get there I took the direct train. Going home I stopped in Perth, which gave me the opportunity to take the train to Edinburgh around the coast, via Dalgety Bay, over the iconic 1.5-mile long red railway bridge, opened in 1890 & crossing the Forth estuary.

The river Tummel and Garry walk

There are a few proposals for local walks on the town’s website but they seem to miss a trick by making walkers spend too much time on the roads. The closest the site offers is the Faskally via Garry Bridge walk. If you download the map from this link you will see that large parts are on the road. The portion between Coronation Bridge and Garry bridge is in the woods and follows the nature trail. I feel that if you are able to do this portion then its only a small step to take the decision to follow the trail along the Tummel river bank and through the Faskally woods.

Starting point – the Power station and salmon ladder

I wanted to take my time and capture the beauty along the route so no rushing about. I estimate it was about 13km and with a little break for lunch I was out for 5 hours. A lovely day. The town centre is very close to the river Tummel. The train station is sandwiched between the river and town centre.

The river has a dam, power station and salmon ladder. The dam creates Loch Faskally and some exceptional photo opportunities. The power of the water is impressive.

Waterside walk to the Clunie Foot bridge

After crossing the dam there is a path alongside the river which joins the Foss road, parallel to the A9, which takes you to the Clunie foot bridge. This bridge is just below the Pitlochry bypass road bridge.

Cross the bridge and immediately turn left. The path drops gently down and take you to Faskally forest. Here you have a decision to take.

Faskally Forest and Loch Dunmore

The Faskally forest walk on the towns site gives you a circular walk around Loch Dunmore. This allows you to see the Loch, the forest and walk alongside the river. We are more ambitious and once we get to the far end of Loch Dunmore we are going to continue upstream to the river Garry. So here you must decide to stick to the river or venture up the hill to the forest. As there are plenty of river banks in the plan I chose to climb the hill and walk through the forest. It is worth noting that Faskally forest hosts, in the October time frame, a light show. The Enchanted Forest will return to Pitlochry in 2023, from Oct 5 to Nov 5. The website has all the details and tickets (opens in a new tab).

The banks of the Tummel to the river Garry bridge

The path continues northwards, upstream, towards the Marine Scotland, Freshwater laboratory, which is private. Just before this complex the path turns left to follow the river bank and the fishing sites. There is a large field on your right and the river on your left. On the other side of the river you will see the hydro electric plant which we will pass later. The path follows the river until it joins the river Garry. This continues under the River Garry road bridge and by a treetop zip wire park. The Garry bridge is unusual as it is home to a permanent bungee jump. The website has all the details of the jump and zip wires (opens in a new tab) Needless to say I did neither.

River Garry back to Linn of Tummel

Shortly after the road bridge is the foot bridge, which is worryingly limited to 10 people at a time. I was not worried and crossed comfortably. This is one of several spots on the walk with a car park if needed.

So now we start heading back downstream towards Pitlochry. But first we have to get to the spectacular Linn of Tummel. The path starts by running down alongside a large field and huge pine trees. Amongst these trees we find a flight of stairs. If you walk this way round the circuit you have to climb the stairs but on the up side get to walk down hill for the last kilometre back to town. You could decide to walk up that hill and down these stairs.

As we rejoin the confluence of the rivers Garry and Tummel we find the Linn of Tummel. The Linn of Tummel is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and more info can be found here (open in a new tab). The fast flowing river Tummel feeds into Loch Faskally here and provides spectacular rapids.

You follow the path upstream to the Coronation suspension bridge which allows us to cross and return to the route back to town.

Road walk back to Clunie foot bridge

We can now relax and follow the gentle undulations of the road back to the Clunie foot bridge. We will pass the hydro power plant and have wonderful views of the river, the Faskally forest and Loch Faskally. All this is set in the foreground to the Ben-y-Vrackie mountain.

Of note is the Clunie Memorial Arch. The arch is the same size as the tunnel that carries the water to the power station. Very impressive. More info in a new tab here.

Clunie Foot Bridge to Pitlochry

Here we are back at the foot bridge. You can walk back to the dam retracing your steps earlier. Or, like me, cross the bridge and this time turn right to head to the town centre on the other side of the river Tummel that we have not seen yet. There was a lovely view of the river from the Pitlochry Boating Station & Adventure Hire site.