When the lovely people at Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust got in touch to ask if I would like to experience Perthshire's 'Big Tree Country' during the autumn, I had my bags packed quicker than you could say 'Giant Douglas Fir'. With over 200,000 acres of woodland, including more champion trees than anywhere else in the UK, autumn in Perthshire is pretty spectacular. The landscape bursts into a fiery tapestry of colour and thousands of towering trunks are testament to why this region has become known as 'Big Tree Country'. Often seen as a convenient stopping point on the road between the Lowlands and Highlands, it seems a real shame that more people don't take time to really appreciate how special the Perthshire scenery is. This blog post only scratches the surface of outdoor places to explore in this vast region but I have tried to include a mixture of walks, viewpoints and places of interest which I think give a good introduction to the diversity of the area. Hopefully these ideas inspire you to explore more of 'Big Tree Country' and discover some gems of your own. WalksThere is no better way (in my opinion) to explore Perthshire than on foot. Thanks to the hard work of Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust and their partners, an ever growing network of paths criss-cross the region. With walks for every ability there is a dizzying choice of trails and you could easily spend weeks following them and still only have covered a fraction! I've chosen 4 walks that I think are rewarding in their own right, from an accessible trail in Faskally Wood to a more challenging walk around the Annat Loop. For me, these trails show off some of the best assortment of scenery in the region with a few unexpected surprises along the way!
If you have read my recent blog with some of the highlights from my week in Ullapool, you will know that I was waiting to reveal my stand out experience from the trip as I felt it deserved a blog post all to itself. Well, I am finally ready to share not only the top highlight from my week in Ullapool, but a corner of Scotland that has firmly entered my list of top places to visit in the country. I wanted to take you on a photo journey of my road-trip which started at Ullapool and ventured towards Achiltibuie and around the Coigach peninsula, a region that I fell more than a little bit in love with. It really was one of those road-trips when I kept thinking that the views couldn't get any better until I turned the next corner! The only way to reach Achiltibuie is by a long and winding single track road which means it remains free from mass tourism and the whole area still has a simple and rustic charm. I could easily spend way more than a thousand words rambling on about how magical this place is, but I thought on this occasion I would let the pictures do the talking instead... Heading north from Ullapool it wasn't long before I got my first glimpse of the Coigach mountains as I followed the road towards Ardmair. Abandoned stone buildings topped with red tin are a common sight in this part of the country. As the sweep of Ardmair Bay came in to view, the white pebble beach was a stark contrast to the dark and brooding mountains in the distance. Around the bend from Ardmair, the mountain and loch scene was completed by some colourful fishing boats.
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