Big Burn Walk

Golspie's 'Big Burn Walk' follows the Golspie Burn upstream from a small car park by the A9 at the northeast end of the village. It's touted as the one thing for which it's worth the passing tourist stopping here - one reads comments like "Golspie may disappoint but....". While I do agree that the glen well is worth a visit, I also think there are lots more sights in Golspie which outclass it - like its long, sandy beach.

From the car park by the A9 the first impressive feature is the railway viaduct which soars over the burn, upstream from which....

....the burn runs through an open valley of mature deciduous woodland. The burn was running high when we walked up it today, the peat-stained water the colour of fine whisky.

The valley sides then close in, and for much of its course through the woods the burn tumbles between the walls of an impressive canyon, and the path is only able to follow it by crossing from side to side by means of a series of wooden bridges.

The recent heavy rain meant that the path was wet and, because after yesterday's rain the sky cleared overnight and we had a sharp frost, sections of the path were very slippery.

In this 4.5km section the burn drops 80m in a series of of falls and rapids, of which this is the most impressive, the more so because the rain had filled the burn.

We walked to the top of the tourist attraction and then followed a narrow road further upwards, seeing a dusting of snow on the hills before....

....we came out of the forestry and could enjoy the view up towards the headwaters the Golspie Burn.

Perhaps it says something about Golspie that we have been resident here for seven weeks, walking in its environs almost every day, and have only just felt the need to visit its 'premier tourist attraction'.