The Fyrish Monument – Stone Arches on a Hilltop
About 3.7 miles on foot.
On a bare hilltop above the Cromarty Firth stands a row of stone arches that looks like the gate of a lost city.
It's the Fyrish Monument, built in the 1780s for a general home from India, and a signed path climbs to it through the woods of the Novar Estate. Walkhighlands gives the walk as 6 km there and back with 292 metres of climbing, a good two hours or so, with the whole firth laid out below you at the top.
- Time
- Two to two and a half hours. Walkhighlands gives the walk as 6 km there and back with 292 m of climbing. A hill walk on a good path.
- The path
- A signed, well-made hill path, steep in places.
- Where to start
- The Fyrish Jubilee car park, in the woods north of Evanton on a minor road off the B9176: free.
- When to go
- All year in daylight and settled weather. From November to January start up by 12.30pm; expect ice and some snow on the top from December.
- Dogs
- Under close control on the estate, and on a lead near deer or sheep.
- Children
- A two-hour climb to an open, unfenced hilltop: for children who are used to hills.
- Toilets
- The nearest are in Evanton.
- Before you set out
- A private estate where deer are stalked in autumn and winter: keep to the signed path and read any notice at the car park. Ice and some snow on the top from December.
The walk
Park at the Fyrish Jubilee car park, in the woods north of Evanton on a minor road off the B9176. It's free. The Jubilee Path climbs from here through pinewood and out onto open heather to the monument on the top of Cnoc Fyrish. Walkhighlands gives the walk as 6 km there and back with 292 metres of climbing, and allows two to two and a half hours. The path is signed and well made, and steep in places.
At the top is a row of nine round stone pillars, the middle four joined by pointed arches, like a ruined gateway on the skyline. General Sir Hector Munro of Novar had it built in the 1780s. The story goes that it copies the gates of Negapatam, a fortress on the coast of India that he captured in 1781, and that the building gave work to local people when food and jobs were short. It was once painted white. From the top you look down on the Cromarty Firth and across to the Black Isle.
It's an open hilltop with no shelter, so take a windproof, and expect ice on the path from December. The hill is part of a private estate where deer are stalked in autumn and winter, so keep to the signed path and read any notice at the car park. There are no toilets here, and the nearest shops are in Evanton. From November to January, start up by 12.30pm.
If it rains
This is a walk for a clear day: the top is open to every wind and the view is the point of it. In low cloud or heavy rain, leave it for another day.
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 Newhall Mains in Balblair, 6 miles away.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Andrea Powell via Google