The Hermitage is a meandering woodland walk, along the River Braan to Ossian Hall, a folly overlooking the waterfalls. You can carry on past the folly, on to Ossians cave or there are links to the network of footpaths beyond The Hermitage to various parts of Dunkeld.
We’ve been there a few times now, the first time was when our son broke his leg earlier this year, as well as just a few weeks ago when the autumn colours were at their best. The paths date back to the 18th century by the Dukes of Atholl and are suitable for walkers and those with pushchairs but care should be taken as they can be a bit uneven.
There are a few picnic benches where you can sit and enjoy the view, and if you continue on the Ossian Cave loop, you can see a totem pole carving completed by a native Canadian from the Squamish Nation, out of a Douglas Fir tree.
There are a number of alternate good family walks around the Dunkeld area. Another of our favorites is the pine cone walk, which starts out of a small car park which is up-hill of the Hermitage car park, from the same turn off of the A9.
Trip report:
- Location: Perthshire, along the A9
- Nearest Town: Dunkeld
- Length: About 1.5miles from the car park.
- Level of difficulty: It’s a low level fairly flat forest walk. It can be a bit bumpy underfoot and there are various routes and tracks to make the walk as long or as difficult as you want on the day.
- What to wear: The usual to be well prepared for UK weather = Sensible shoes, waterproofs, hats etc
- Kid friendly: Yes. There are routes that take you close to the river with steep slopes so care should be taken. It is pushchair friendly if you have an all terrain pushchair, though if you want to extend the route, you’ll probably need to carry the pushchair over tree trunks etc like we did.
- Best time to visit: Autumn for the colours
- Any tips: The National Trust for Scotland car park charges £2 a day. There is also a little snackvan there, selling the tea, coffee, snacks and huge ice creams! My son still talks about how much he was spoilt by them! You can also find more information on The Hermitage at the National Trust for Scotland website.
© 2016, An Outdoors Family
An Outdoors Family 