Anagach Woods, Grantown-on-Spey, Cairngorms National Park, Highland

Anagach Woods (click / tap to enlarge image)

Anagach Woods are located at the edge of the attractive Highland town of Grantown-on-Spey. The town is a popular base for exploring the Cairngorms National Park and you'll find plenty of eating options there. There's a good bakery just off the main square (Maclean's Highland Bakery) and weather permitting, we particularly like to grab a take away snack from there and eat it on one of the benches dotted around nearby. You will find public toilets in the High Street car park. There is also a toilet block at the Burnfield Avenue car park but they have been closed for refurbishment for some time and I'm not sure if they have reopened as yet.

Grantown-on-Spey

Our walk starts from the parking area at the end of Forest Road, adjacent to the woods themselves. There are only a few parking spaces here but you can turn down the left hand track to a larger car park. There are a number of easy to follow waymarked routes of varying lengths from 1 mile to 5½ miles. All the routes are pretty flat. Dogs need to be kept on a lead along some of the longest (red) route during April to August, to protect the nesting sites of the elusive and rare Capercaillie. More details on the various walking options along with other walking areas in Grantown, can be found in the Grantown-on-Spey Paths leaflet, available from the Cairngorms National Park website here.

As always, link to the car park on Google Maps, maps of the route and GPX navigation file can be found at the end of the article. All images can be clicked/tapped to enlarge them.

The woods are a delight and are comprised of majestic Scots pine. If you're lucky you might spot some red squirrels. We visited the woods back in June 2022 and we took a stroll around one of the shorter trails, the circular green route which is just over 1 mile and takes in part of the Old Military Road. Tommy in particular was a bit tired from a longer walk the day before, so we decided to have a nice easy day.

I've not provided blow by blow walking directions for this one, since as mentioned above, the routes are waymarked, so you can just follow the appropriately coloured markers around your chosen route. Here are some pictures from our walk.

"Awww yehhh, back in the woods!"

"Hmm, I know I'm not supposed to get the pine cone. So much temptation... must resist!"

Return leg of the route via the Old Military Road

Route overview with surrounding area (click / tap to enlarge image)

Route detail (follow route clockwise as per directional arrow)

Link to start location on Google Maps

Download GPX file (from Google Drive)

PLEASE BE SURE TO READ OUR DISCLAIMER WHICH ALSO INCLUDES IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION.

The National Wallace Monument and Abbey Craig, Stirling

The National Wallace Monument (click/tap to enlarge image)

The National Wallace Monument is a Victorian tribute to the Scottish hero Sir William Wallace. Yes, he of Braveheart fame which depending on your perspective, is an enjoyable and iconic film but it isn't something to watch for its historical accuracy! There was actually a Mel Gibson, Braveheart statue in the car park at one time but it was widely disliked, constantly vandalised and eventually removed!

The National Wallace Monument sits high up on a rocky crag, Abbey Craig to be precise and is a landmark that can be seen for miles around. It overlooks the fields where Wallace defeated the English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.

The car park, grounds and Abbey Craig are all free to visit and are generally open at all times. Toilet facilities can be found in the Legends café at the car park and inside the monument (open during café/monument operating hours). The café is pretty good and there is also an outside area which is dog friendly. The monument itself is not dog friendly and there is a charge to visit it. It is worthwhile though and whilst the views from the grounds are superb, they are even better from the top of the monument. There are also some interesting exhibitions inside. You can find more information on the official website here.

Our walk takes us uphill from the car park to the monument, along a route that is quite steep at times, especially as it winds its way up to the monument. From the monument, the route follows the rather more moderate blue waymarked walk around Abbey Craig and back down to the car park. Abbey Craig is often over-looked by visitors but it affords better views than from outside the front of the monument in my opinion.

The walk is mostly circular and quite short, with a total distance of 1.37 miles. If walking the route during the day when the shuttle bus is running, you will need to keep an eye out for it on the road sections. There are also drops to be aware of at the monument itself and the initial part of the Abbey Craig walk. Other than around these hazards, we generally let the dogs off the lead. The paths are good but can be a little slippery in bad weather.

As usual there's a link to the car park on Google Maps, maps of the route and a GPX file for navigation, at the end of the article. All information is as per our last visit in August 2022. All images can be clicked/tapped to enlarge.

The walk up to the monument is well sign-posted and begins behind the Legends café (click/tap to enlarge image)

Tommy proved to be the star of this walk and plenty of photo opportunities presented themselves!

"You will provide treats on demand or face the consequences!"

The path from the car park

There are lots of interesting wood carvings along the route.

"Beep beep! Look Jasper I'm driving a whale!"

Soon, the path runs alongside the road. Watch out for the shuttle bus if it's running.

"Not the most snuggly of laps to be honest and there's a distinct lack of strokes! Still lookin' pretty cute though! I'm assuming there's some kind of food related reward for this!"

A little way up the road, we turn right and follow the short but steep path up to the monument.

"Choo choo! Now I'm driving the train!"

Nearly there. From this point on until we are passed the monument and the Abbey Craig viewpoint, it's back on the lead for the dogs as there are steep drops. The shuttle bus also runs along the road and to the front of the monument.

Outside the monument

Close up of the statue of Sir William Wallace holding his sword aloft.

View of monument from the side

View of monument from rear

The front of the monument has a large viewing platform with benches. There are great panoramic views to take in.

View towards Stirling Castle 

The sun going down over the distant Trossachs

The path continues past the monument and runs along the right hand side of the road

Keep to the right and off the road, following the arrows. You're following the blue way marked route. Note the stone marker circled in blue. Look out for these markers along the route and follow the blue arrows on them, sticking to the main paths.

The path comes out at the Abbey Craig viewpoint where there are more benches to sit and enjoy the views. The drops in this area are especially sharp, so do take care.

View of River Forth and out towards Stirling Castle

View towards Grangemouth on left and Cambuskenneth Abbey on right

Continue along the main path past the viewing areas and down into the woods

Keep following the main path and avoid turning off. The path moves away from the steep drops but don't let your dog wander off to the right of the path. When you get to a T junction, go right as per the stone marker.

Jasper does love the woods! Stick to the main path as it curves left here.

As per the marker, follow Jasper down the path to the left here

At the junction here, the path straight on is signposted Alloa Road. Turn left instead as per the other stone marker (also sign-posted Visitor Centre and Car Park).

Keep straight along the main path

The path curves to the left and then narrows

You are now heading towards the Ochil Hills Viewpoint. The viewpoint itself however doesn't provide much of a view these days, as it is almost entirely obscured by trees. Instead keep an eye out to the right as you walk along the path and you'll get a glimpse of the hills between the gaps in the trees.

After a while, the path curves around to the left and continues up to the viewpoint

Continue on the path through the viewpoint and shortly afterwards, you will back out on the shuttle bus road. Follow the path to the right along the edge of the road. The road and path soon diverge. Continue to follow the path back down the signposted route to the car park, retracing our route back to the start of the walk.

A few bonus photos:

Panorama from top of monument taken in 2018

Sunset over the Trossachs

Side view of the monument illuminated at night

Route overview with surrounding area for context (click/tap to enlarge)

Route detail - section 1 of 2

Route detail - section 2 of 2

Link to start location on Google Maps

Download GPX file (from Google Drive)

PLEASE BE SURE TO READ OUR DISCLAIMER WHICH ALSO INCLUDES IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION.

Perth Highland Games, Scone Palace, Perth and Kinross

Something of a change for Jasper and Tommy last Sunday as we visited the Perth Highland Games held at Scone Palace (pronounced "skoon", if you didn't already know) near the city of Perth. As an aside, we had been to Scone Palace with the dogs before, since we attended last year's "Paws at the Palace" event. That's a fun day filled with dog events and lots of dog related stalls etc. It takes place in the grounds surrounding the palace itself and is taking place this year on Sunday 4th September. If that interests you, there are more details on their website here.

Getting back to the games... the organisers have not been able to run them since 2018, due to bad weather in 2019 and of course the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. It's dog friendly, though understandably, dogs are required to be kept on a lead. The games are held in a very large field in the wider palace grounds with plenty of space to wander about. There are trees dotted around; handy for the dogs to cool off under, given our recent weather. Lots of entertaining events on offer, stalls to peruse and numerous food options. Quite a lot of people had brought their dogs with them and ours loved it!

Here are a few pics and a couple of videos that we captured. All images can be clicked/tapped to enlarge.

The hammer throw involves throwing a rather different type of hammer from that used in the Olympic event and quite a different technique too!

Hammer throw (click/tap to enlarge)

Hammer throw

You could try your hand at axe throwing.

The professionals make it look deceptively easy!

Mixed results for those having a go however!

Very entertaining to watch the highland dancing with the bagpipe accompaniment.

Sword Dance

Here's a short video of the sword dance.

A few photos of the tossing the caber event. The aim being to toss the caber through a vertical rotation and get it to land as close to the 12 o'clock position as possible.

Tossing the caber

Tossing the caber

Tossing the caber

Time to find some shade for a rest and drinks.

The Scottish Knight League were in attendance to demonstrate their full contact medieval combat. Seemingly it's a competitive sport with a world championships and it's pretty violent!

The commentator was at pains to point out to the audience that whilst these were demonstrations as opposed to championship matches, the competitors were still not going to hold back, as the below video shows!

There wasn't a pipe band competition this year as the games clashed with the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow. The Perth and District Pipe Band were in attendance however.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable day out. Jasper and Tommy were in their element being made a fuss of by some of the other visitors and they got to interact with plenty of other dogs.