Hill 99 – Through Culbin's Pines to a Tower Above the Trees
About 3.5 miles on foot.
Culbin is a great pine forest growing on sand dunes beside the Moray Firth, west of Forres, and its best walk leads to a wooden tower on top of the highest dune.
From the platform you look out over miles of treetops to the sea and the hills of Sutherland beyond. The Hill 99 Trail is 5.7 km, mostly flat and easy underfoot, and takes about two hours.
- Time
- About two hours: a waymarked trail of 5.7 km (3.5 miles), mostly flat, with some long slopes, short steep bits and steps up to the viewing tower.
- The path
- Wide, firm gravel and sand, mostly flat, with some long slopes and short steep sections. Steps up to the viewing platform.
- Where to start
- Wellhill car park, Culbin Forest. £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. The long access road can be uneven and potholed.
- 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 by 12.30pm.
- Dogs
- Under close control.
- Children
- An easy, mostly level walk. Watch small children at the ponds and on the tower steps.
- Toilets
- At the car park, with an accessible toilet and baby changing, from 1 April to 31 October. None in the forest in winter.
- Before you set out
- There is open water at the ponds. The car park toilets are open from 1 April to 31 October only.
The walk
The trail starts at Wellhill car park in Culbin Forest, signposted off the A96 between Nairn and Forres. IV36 2TG 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. The long access road can be uneven and potholed. Forestry and Land Scotland gives the Hill 99 Trail as 5.7 km, or three and a half miles, and allows two hours.
The forest grows on sand dunes, and the trail winds through the pines to the Gravelpit Ponds, a good spot for a picnic or a look for birds, then over ridges of shingle and beds of pale lichen. Hill 99 is Culbin's highest dune, and it gets its name from its height: 99 feet. A wooden viewing tower on top lifts you above the trees, and on a clear day you can see across the Moray Firth to the hills of Sutherland. The way back is through mossy glades and past the Dragonfly Pond. The trail is graded moderate.
It's mostly wide, firm gravel and sand, and fairly flat, with some long slopes, a few short steep bits and steps up to the viewing platform. There's open water at the ponds, so watch small children there. The toilets at the car park, with an accessible toilet and baby changing, are open until 31 October and then shut until 1 April. From November to January, set off by 12.30pm.
If it rains
The pines take the edge off wind and rain and the paths drain fast on sand, so it's a good walk for a showery day. The view from the tower needs clear air.
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 Culbin Edge, 2 miles away. Sleeps 4; next free Mon 9 Nov to Wed 11 Nov.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by kev peterkin via Google