Few things are more captivating than the windswept pines, pink heather and mist-cloaked mountains of the Scottish Highlands. It’s hard to imagine how this landscape once was, made up of dense pine forests and winding rivers inhabited by lynx, wolves, deer and an abundance of fauna. Yet, there are glimmers of this wilderness slowly returning. The JWP London team have just returned from an adventure through northern Scotland to experience an ambitious 200 year vision of landscape-scale conservation!
A memorable trip to the Highlands is characterised by invigorating mountain hikes, bountiful lunches, pristine fishing spots, and wild swimming remedied by a warming whisky beside the fire. Toward the south, there’s some of the country’s finest golf courses and the beautiful Cairngorms, but as you travel north from Inverness the roads become narrower and towns become increasingly scarce. Here, you find some of the country’s most awe-inspiring landscapes, and a place to disconnect, and reconnect, in wild nature.
Kinloch Lodge is enveloped by a private woodland, inconspicuous below the towering Ben Loyal and Ben Hope, the most northerly Munro. It sits within a 20,000 acre reserve but belongs to a much greater blueprint, an area of 105,000 acres in northern Scotland, which is under conservation. Wildland is the country’s most ambitious rewilding project, dedicated to the rehabilitation of Scotland’s precious landscapes. A stay at Kinloch Lodge, and any of the Wildland properties, contributes to this conservation vision.
After a day of sunrise yoga, icy river swims combatted by a sauna yurt, and a short hike and picnic lunch watching seals lazing on a pristine beach, we continued south to the Black Isle where mountains transformed into expansive agricultural land and photo-stops for highland cows became more frequent.
In a short stop at Falls of Shin we experienced the salmon run, which takes place between May and November where salmon fly out of the water to release their eggs in the freshwater.
Arriving at Newhall Mains we were warmly greeted by the owner, Euan, and Venetia, who welcomed us in for tea and scones. These former farm buildings have been carefully restored to create a homely environment, perfect for couples, families and groups of friends exploring the castles, distilleries and beaches of the Black Isle. If you’re lucky, Euan may even take you flying in Besy, his small plane, touching down on a deserted beach for a picnic lunch!
We journeyed up on the Caledonian Sleeper, an overnight train which takes 11 hours from Euston to Inverness and took the day train back. With only two days up north, we left feeling inspired, hopeful and revitalised, and vowed to embrace the restorative power of nature, on our doorstep, more often!
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