Polney Loch – Under the Crags of Craig a' Barns
About 1.4 miles on foot.
Craig a' Barns is the wall of crags that rises behind Dunkeld, and Polney Loch, the pike pool, lies at its foot among larch and pine.
From the Cally car park just north of the town a short woodland walk reaches the loch under the cliffs, and the longer Atholl Woods Path carries on into the forest. The story goes that a Duke of Atholl planted the crags with larch by firing the seed from a cannon.
- Time
- Under an hour: about 2 km there and back from the Cally car park to Polney Loch. The council's Atholl Woods Path is 11 km, about three and a half hours. A stroll, or a long walk.
- The path
- Woodland tracks and paths, muddy in places.
- Where to start
- Atholl Estates' Cally car park, just north of Dunkeld; no charge, no overnight parking.
- When to go
- All year in daylight.
- Dogs
- Under control (Atholl Estates); fallow deer in the woods.
- Children
- The walk to the loch is short; keep children well back from the foot of the cliffs.
- Toilets
- Public toilets at the Atholl Street car park in Dunkeld.
The walk
The walk starts at Atholl Estates' Cally car park, on the minor road just north of Dunkeld, where there's no charge and overnight parking isn't allowed. Polney Loch is about a kilometre away through the woods, measured on the map, so the loch and back is about 2 km, under an hour. Perth and Kinross Council's leaflet puts the loch, the pike pool, at the foot of the cliffs of Craig a' Barns and Lovers' Leap.
Blue and emerald damselflies fly over the water in spring and summer, and coots dive among the reeds. The crags are said to have been planted with European larch by the 3rd Duke of Atholl, firing cones and seed at them from a cannon. For a longer day, the council's Atholl Woods Path starts from the same car park and is 11 km, about three and a half hours, through conifer woods and down to the loch.
Fallow deer live in the woods. Keep children well back from the foot of the cliffs. The nearest toilets are in the Atholl Street car park in Dunkeld.
If it rains
Short and mostly under the trees: a fair choice in light rain, and Dunkeld is just down the road afterwards.
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 Conor Dee via Google