The Bamff Beaver Walk – Dams, Pools and Drowned Trees
About 2.6 miles on foot.
Bamff, an estate in the hills above Alyth, brought beavers back in 2002, and they've turned its ditches into a chain of dams and pools.
An easy loop of 4.2 km on the Cateran Trail goes round their wetlands and past Bamff House. It takes an hour to an hour and a half, with hardly any climb.
- Time
- An hour to an hour and a half: a 4.2 km (2.6 miles) loop, mostly flat, with 40 m of climb.
- The path
- Mostly flat, on paths, estate tracks and quiet roads.
- Where to start
- The car park on Balwhyme Road, about three miles north-west of Alyth, at the start of the walk.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. The dams and pools are plain to see in any month, and clearest in winter and early spring when the leaves are off. The estate's guided beaver watch walks run from April to September.
- Dogs
- On a lead: the estate allows dogs on leads only on its own walks, and none on its beaver watch walks.
- Children
- Short and nearly flat. The pools are open water.
- Before you set out
- The estate's guided beaver watch walks run from April to September, at about 7.30pm, £48 a head for at least two people, booked by email.
The walk
Park in the car park on Balwhyme Road, about three miles north-west of Alyth, where the Cateran Trail leaves the road. The Cateran Ecomuseum's Bamff walk is a loop of 4.2 km from here on paths, estate tracks and quiet roads, with only 40 m of climb. Allow an hour to an hour and a half. It runs through the woods of Bamff, an estate the Ramsay family has held since 1232, when King Alexander II gave it to his doctor. In 2002 Paul and Louise Ramsay brought in two beavers from Norway, the first private project of its kind, and the animals have been breeding here since 2005.
They've turned the ditch through the low ground into a string of about 40 dams and as many pools, with felled and drowned trees standing in the water. Otters, water voles, herons and ducks have moved in behind them. Beavers work at night, so by day it's the dams, the pools and the gnawed stumps you see. The loop passes Bamff House, where the estate's honesty shop has a DIY café for walkers and cyclists to make a hot drink or a snack and sit in. People live, work and stay on the estate, so follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
On its own guided walks the estate allows dogs on leads only, and that's the rule to keep here. To watch the beavers themselves, the estate runs guided beaver watch walks at about 7.30pm from April to September. They cost £48 a head for at least two people, children under 16 go free, dogs can't come, and you book by email through the estate's website.
If it rains
The woods give some shelter and the loop is short, so it's a fair walk for a showery day. The tracks are wet underfoot after rain, so wear boots.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Nàdair, 5 miles away. Sleeps 6; next free Fri 4 Dec to Sun 6 Dec.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by malcolm scott via Google