Hidden Scotland
Sign in
Balanced stone cairns rise from terracotta pots lettered with numbers in a stone courtyard, picnic tables and a cafe sign visible beneath a covered timber structure.
Isle of Mull

Calgary Art in Nature

A free woodland sculpture walk through the beech woods above Calgary Bay, begun in 1999, with a café beside the start.

Visit website
Welcome

Calgary Art in Nature is a woodland sculpture walk through the beech woods above Calgary Bay, begun in 1999 to set sculpture among the trees.

The walk leads from the Visitors Centre at Calgary Arts down to the beach, over three levels, past work by local artists, the community and visiting makers: willow figures and a willow tunnel, a labyrinth of scallop shells and sand, standing stones of Caithness stone and steel oystercatchers. The Tower was made by Matthew Reade during lockdown in 2020.

The beeches are tall, with their tops shaped by the westerly winds, so the wood feels open, airy and sheltered, with moss-covered boulders, wildflowers and woodland plants along the way. The walk is free, and donations pay for the upkeep of the woods and for new sculpture. A leaflet and map are at the Visitors Centre, and the café beside it serves lunch and coffee, with hours that change through the year.

The Daily

Arrives at 5am every day.

A free morning email to see what’s on this week, catch up on what’s happening in Scotland and find somewhere new to go.

The Daily for 30 October, from Scotland with love. Aerial view of a teal-coloured lochan cupped in a forested hollow, a scree slope rising on one side and autumn-tinged pines ringing the shore.
Before you go

A free walk, open all year, from the Visitors Centre at Calgary Arts down to the beach.

Where
Calgary, by Dervaig, Isle of Mull PA75 6QQ. The walk starts at the Visitors Centre at Calgary Arts and leads down to the beach at Calgary Bay.
Open
The sculpture walk is open all year.
Price
Free. Donations pay for the upkeep of the woods and for new sculpture.
Access
The woodland is walked on three levels. A leaflet and map are available at the Visitors Centre and at information points in the woods.
Getting there
Mull is reached by CalMac ferry: Oban to Craignure takes 50 minutes, with shorter routes from Lochaline to Fishnish and Kilchoan to Tobermory, and ferries are often booked well ahead. A bus service runs from Tobermory to Dervaig and Calgary; some times connect with the ferries and some do not, so check the timetable.
Food
The Calgary Bay Co café is open Sunday to Thursday, 10.30am to 4pm, with lunch from 12 to 2pm, from 5 April to 29 October 2026. It closes for November, and its December hours are still to be announced on its website.

Been here? Tell others what you know, and the best go on this page with your name.

Add your review

Did you know

A sign reading "Sculpture trail, woods and beach" hangs above a map titled "Sculpture in the Wood, Calgary Art in Nature" listing numbered artworks.
Did you know

Begun in 1999.

The project began in 1999 to place sculpture in the Calgary woods, to provoke and enlighten a general awareness of art in nature.

A rusted metal cabinet filled with tiny model rooms and found objects stands on mossy rock in a forest clearing, ferns growing at its base.
Did you know

More than twenty-five years in the making.

The walk has been made since 1999 by the artist Matthew Reade and his wife Julia, with work by local artists, the community and visitors.

Two carved wooden totem markers stand among moss-covered rocks and beech trees at the entrance to a woodland path.
Did you know

A tower from lockdown.

The Tower, one of the sculptures in the woods, was made by Matthew Reade during the lockdown of 2020.

A curving timber staircase with a handrail climbs through dense ferns and woodland on a hillside.
Did you know

Shaped by the wind.

The upper branches of the beeches have been sculpted by the westerly winds, and inside the wood it is dry and sheltered.

An illustrated trail map board and a carved wooden totem stand at the start of a woodland path lined with ferns and conifers.
Did you know

Three levels.

The woodland is walked on three levels, each with its own sculptures, and a leaflet and map are to hand at information points.

A carved wooden panel depicting a tree stands upright between two mossy stone gateposts, ferns and red flowers growing either side.
What is on

What is new across Mull, day by day.

New places, news and stories, as we find them.

What is on on Mull
01 / 06
Where it is

Calgary, by Dervaig, north-west Mull, above Calgary Bay.

Close byAbove Calgary Bay.
  1. Soup, bread and a daffodil on a table by the window at the café at Calgary.Calgary Bay CoA small café by Calgary Bay in north-west Mull, run by Lou and Ben, with lunches, baking and Pilates classes.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Calgary BayCalgary BayThe largest and most accessible beach in north Mull, a long sweep of white shell sand backed by flowering machair, west of Dervaig.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Inside Am Birlinn: tables under a high timber ceiling, big windows onto the trees.Am BirlinnA family-friendly restaurant in a light, airy timber building near Dervaig, cooking the freshest local food.2 miles 4 min by road
  4. Loch na Keal roadLoch na Keal roadThe narrow coastal road along Loch na Keal on Mull's west coast, under Ben More and the Gribun cliffs, with Eorsa and Inch Kenneth offshore.11 miles as the crow flies
  5. The Glass BarnThe Glass BarnThe café and farm shop of Isle of Mull Cheese above Tobermory, under a vine in a glasshouse built on the Clyde.15 miles 26 min by road
  6. Dùn Ara's crag across a green field, the sea and hills beyond under a blue sky.Dùn AraA ruined medieval castle of the MacKinnons on a rocky crag on Mull's north coast, reached on foot across the pastures from Glengorm.16 miles 31 min by road
Directions
Close-up of a puffin's face, showing red-rimmed eye and orange beak markingsToursIsle of Lunga3.1 miles
Puffin with a coloured leg ring standing on a lichen-covered rockAttractionsTreshnish Isles3.1 miles
The dining room at Ar Bòrd in Dervaig, a table laid for dinner on a herringbone rug, with a pine dresser, a bookcase and windows looking out on green fields.RestaurantsAr Bòrd3.5 miles
AttractionsLoch Torr Wildlife Hide7.2 miles
A main course at An Cala Ciùin in Tobermory, with asparagus, a potato, a small tart topped with wild garlic flowers and a dark sauce on a grey stone plate.RestaurantsAn Cala Ciùin8.3 miles
The pale timber building of Croft 3 on the croft, the sea and hills behind.RestaurantsCroft 38.5 miles
Lip na Cloiche's garden in flower, a small white greenhouse among dense beds of plants.AttractionsLip na Cloiche Garden9.5 miles
Waterfall dropping to a seaweed-covered shoreline beneath misty hillsAttractionsEas Fors Waterfall11 miles
Colourful waterfront houses at Tobermory reflected in still harbour waterAttractionsTobermory12 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the woods, and when each is next free.

The house's gabled wing with a decked terrace and two chairs, solar panels along the roof, seen across a grassy slope.Borradill House
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Glenborrodale
  • 16 miles from Calgary Art in Nature
Free 15–18 NovBorradill Cottage, ArdnamurchanBorradill Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Glenborrodale
  • 16 miles from Calgary Art in Nature
Free 29 Nov – 2 DecPlaces to stayEvery stay on MullAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
Hidden Scotland, the magazine

Scotland, in print.

We want to show you the best that Scotland has to offer. The makers and the creatives, the enduring experiences, the evocative tales, the concealed corners. The roads less travelled that take you to places that matter. The adventures that gather you up and sweep you away. The blend of the wild and the artistic that makes Scotland what it is. We’d love for you to join us.

Get Issue 13Read it here
Find out more

For further reading, before you go. The details on this page were checked on .