Raven's Rock – Down a Mossy Gorge and Out Above It
Raven's Rock is a small forest near Rosehall with a steep-sided gorge in the middle of it, where the Allt Mor burn runs under walls hung with moss and fern.
Two short gravel trails start from the same car park. One goes down into the gorge and the other through the pines to look into it from above. Together they take about an hour.
- Time
- Half an hour each. The Raven's Rock Gorge Trail is 0.8 km, or half a mile, with a steep slope down into the gorge. The Pine Wood Trail is 1 km on firm gravel.
- The path
- Smooth gravel throughout on the gorge trail, with a steep slope down into the gorge. Firm, largely smooth gravel on the Pine Wood Trail, with some short, fairly steep slopes.
- Where to start
- The forest car park at Raven's Rock, near Rosehall, signed with a brown sign from the A837 and the A839. Free.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. Autumn brings the fungi. Nowhere to eat nearby outside the summer.
- Dogs
- Under close control.
- Children
- Wood carvings to find and a picnic place by the burn. Keep hold of small children on the steep slope and near the water.
- Toilets
- None here: the nearest are in Bonar Bridge and Lairg, six or seven miles away.
- Before you set out
- Open water in the gorge. Ticks in the warmer months. Both trails are graded moderate.
The walk
Raven's Rock is a Forestry and Land Scotland wood near Rosehall, with a free car park at the forest entrance. From the A837, six miles west of its junction with the A836, a brown sign for the Raven's Rock Gorge forest walk points up a side road. The forest entrance is on the left about a quarter of a mile beyond the crossroads by the school and village hall. From Lairg, the same brown sign is on the A839 after just under six and a half miles, before the bridge. The nearest postcode, IV27 4EU, covers a wide spread of back roads, so trust the signs over the sat nav. There are two short waymarked trails.
The Raven's Rock Gorge Trail is 0.8 km, or half a mile, and takes half an hour. It's a smooth gravel path that drops steeply beside the Allt Mor burn into the gorge, where moss and fern hang from the walls, to a picnic place under beech and Douglas fir at the bottom. Look out for the wood carvings on the way, a bear among them. The Pine Wood Trail is 1 km and another half hour, on firm gravel with a few short, fairly steep slopes. It leads through the pines to viewing places high above the gorge. Each trail comes back the way it went.
Both are graded moderate, and the climb back out of the gorge is the only hard part. In autumn the wood floor is bright with fungi. Keep hold of small children near the burn, and check for ticks afterwards. There are no toilets here. The nearest are in Bonar Bridge and Lairg, six or seven miles away. The café near Rosehall opens in summer only, so bring a flask.
If it rains
The trees give shelter and the gravel drains well, so this is a fair walk for a showery day. The slope into the gorge is steep whatever the weather.
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 Brendan Plaine via Google