A walk · Pitlochry

The Black Spout – Pitlochry's Waterfall in the Oak Wood

About 3.1 miles on foot.

The Black Spout is a tall, thin waterfall dropping through an old oak wood on the edge of Pitlochry, and a council path loops out to it from the middle of town.

You look down on the fall from a wooden platform, then the path carries on up the burn, or stream, to the hamlet of Milton of Edradour before heading back. It's an easy morning, with tea and a big scone at Hettie's when you're back.

Time: About an hour and a half: the council's Edradour Path, a 5 km loop from Atholl Road by the Black Spout and Milton of Edradour. A walk.
The path: Woodland paths with stones and roots, and quiet roads; not for pushchairs.
Where to start: The car park on Atholl Road in the middle of Pitlochry; there is a charge. The Black Spout Wood car park off the A924 is about 300 m from the waterfall.
When to go: All year in daylight; best a day or two after rain. The Edradour distillery is closed to visitors until further notice.
Dogs: Keep dogs back from the edge of the viewing platform.
Children: The viewing platform hangs over the gorge: keep children back from the edge.
Toilets: Public toilets in Pitlochry.

The walk

The walk starts at the car park on Atholl Road in the middle of Pitlochry, where there's a charge. The council's Edradour Path is a 5 km loop, about an hour and a half, on woodland paths and quiet roads, with most junctions signed. It heads out past the Blair Athol distillery, founded in 1798, and into Black Spout Wood, an oak wood that was cut as coppice for centuries.

There a wooden platform looks down on the Black Spout, a slender fall pouring through the trees. The platform hangs over the gorge, so keep children and dogs back from the edge. The path goes on up the burn to the hamlet of Milton of Edradour, home of one of Scotland's smallest distilleries, which is closed to visitors until further notice, so there are no tours or tastings there.

The fall is at its best a day or two after rain. For a short walk to the platform alone, the Black Spout Wood car park, signed from the A924 at the south end of town, is about 300 metres from it. Stones and roots make it no place for a pushchair.

If it rains

A good one for a wet day: most of the loop is under the oaks, and the fall is at its best after rain. Wear boots for the mud.

Afterwards

About 6 min on foot
Hettie's Tea Rooms
Coffee and cake
Back on Atholl Road, Hettie's Tea Rooms is the place for a pot of its own loose-leaf tea and one of its famously big scones with jam and cream, or a slice of cake from the counter. It opens every day from 11am to 4pm, with last orders at 3.50pm, and dogs are welcome if they mind their manners. Book a table on its website or on 01796 473991 on a busy day. If it's full, Victoria's on the corner of Atholl Road opens every day from 11am.
More about Hettie's Tea Rooms

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 Charlottefield, 4 miles away. Sleeps 4.