Roseisle – Pine Woods, a Fishermen's Bothy and a Wartime Shore
Roseisle is a pinewood that runs right down to the sands of Burghead Bay, and it's about the easiest place on the Moray coast to spend a morning outdoors.
Three short waymarked trails start from one car park, taking in a ruined fishermen's bothy, a burn, or stream, that runs out into the sea and a line of wartime concrete blocks along the beach. There's a play area and picnic tables among the trees too.
- Time
- Three quarters of an hour to an hour and three quarters: three waymarked trails from one car park. Ice House Trail 2 km (1.25 miles), three quarters of an hour, moderate; Millie Bothy trail 2.6 km (1.5 miles), an hour and a quarter, strenuous; Wildlife Walk Trail 4.2 km (2.5 miles), an hour and three quarters, strenuous.
- The path
- Loose sandy and earthy paths, muddy after rain, with exposed roots and short steep slopes. One long flight of steep log steps on the Millie Bothy trail and one narrow bridge on the Wildlife Walk.
- Where to start
- Roseisle car park, beside the B9089 between Kinloss and Burghead. £2 for up to an hour, £2.50 for up to three hours, £4 all day, by coins, card or RingGo; free with a Blue Badge.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. The car park toilets are open from 1 April to 31 October. From November to January set off on the Wildlife Walk by 12.30pm.
- Dogs
- Under close control.
- Children
- A play area by the car park, short trails and a beach. Watch small children by the burns and the sea.
- Toilets
- At the car park, with an accessible toilet, from 1 April to 31 October. In winter the nearest are the public toilets in Burghead and Findhorn.
- Before you set out
- There is open water at the site. The car park toilets are open from 1 April to 31 October only.
The walk
Roseisle's car park is in the forest beside the B9089, the coast road between Kinloss and Burghead. IV36 2UB is the nearest postcode. Parking is £2 for up to an hour, £2.50 for up to three hours or £4 for the day, by coins, card or RingGo, and free with a Blue Badge. Three waymarked trails start here, and Forestry and Land Scotland gives a length and a time for each. The Ice House Trail is 2 km and takes three quarters of an hour.
It keeps just in from the shore and reaches a grassy knoll above the Bessie Burn with a view out to sea, passing an old ice house where salmon caught off this coast were stored. The Millie Bothy trail is 2.6 km and an hour and a quarter. It goes by the ruin of a bothy where the salmon fishermen sheltered, then on to the spot where the Millie Burn runs into the sea. The Wildlife Walk, 4.2 km and an hour and three quarters, is the full circuit of forest and foreshore, with a hide for watching woodland birds. Red squirrels live in the pines, and seals and diving gannets are often seen from the beach.
Along the sand stands a line of concrete blocks, part of Britain's defences in the Second World War. The paths are loose sand and earth, muddy after rain, with tree roots, short steep slopes and one long flight of log steps on the Millie Bothy trail. There's a play area and picnic tables by the car park. The toilets there are open until 31 October and then shut until 1 April, and all year there are public toilets in Burghead and Findhorn. From November to January, set off on the Wildlife Walk by 12.30pm.
If it rains
The pines keep off the worst of the wind and rain and the sandy paths drain fast, so the forest loops are fine on a showery day. The beach is another matter in a gale.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Jacob Vollrath via Google