Reelig Glen – A Gorgeous Circular Walk
The Professional Traveller • Sep 13, 2020
This is a fantastic walk with everything you could wish for – a riverside walk, a grotto, amazing trees and a couple of waterfalls too. It’s spectacular in any season.
Getting to Reelig Glen
Reelig Glen is easily reach from the A862. This is the road that runs between Inverness and Beauly.
If you are heading from Beauly towards Inverness you head out of Beauly, cross of the river (the bridge with the traffic lights) and continue along the main road (passing a right turn for the A833). After passing this turn the road opens out and there is a right turn signed for Reelig Glen. There is a small house at the junction.
Travel down the road to Reelig Glen where you will pass some holiday lodges on your left hand side. The road bears round the right but you actually carry straight on, passing more chalets on your left. There are passing places.
At the bottom of the road you will come to the car park directly infront of you.
There are a couple of routes to take but my favourite walk is the circular one which comes back to the car park. Take the path beside the river and walk away from the car park with the river on your left. The path is nice and wide and there are plenty of wonderful trees along the way.
I particularly like the lichen on the trees, it hangs off the trees given it a fairly glen look.
There are some interpretation signs along the way – you just flip them out of the posts to read about particular trees that are highlighted. There are some great trees to hug along the way if that is your thing too!
The path then rises away from the river and curves round to the right. At the top it crosses over a small stream and heads down again. This can be a bit muddy as you get nearer to the river and there isn’t a handrail so extra care is needed.
There are nice views back down to the gorge from this area and a lovely mix of trees and foliage.
At the bottom you will come to a wooden bridge. Beside it is a lovely fairlytale folly with lichen, moss and ferns growing off it.
There is a little bridge, an archway and a tower and the sign says these were built to give paid employment to local people when there were little opportunities available. The sign says that the work had to be redone every day, providing ongoing employment as the fairies dismantled the construction each night.
There is then a little wooden walkway before the path heads down to river level again. This used to be the home of the tallest tree in Scotland at one time, but that title now belongs to a tree in Perthshire instead!
There is a steep section of path which heads up to a lovely little bridge over a stream. Conveniently, there is a also a bench there which is ideal if you need to catch your breath. There is a little waterfall which is quite scenic too.
One of my favourite sections of the walk is the next section. There is a broad path and the height gives you a great view back down to the river and across the tops of the trees. There is a little steep section bringing the path down to the river side again and then the path ends at the road.
Simply turn left over the bridge and you are back to the car park.
Depending on your walking speed the whole walk takes around 30-45 minutes.
Further Reading;
Find more information about Reelig Glen from the Forestry Commission here
If you like a circular walk and a circular drive check out my guide to Plodda Falls
Check out my guide to the Scottish Highlands
