Walk of the week: River Tay and the Heemitage near Dunkeld

AYMARKED paths are on the increase with every town, village and even city across Scotland getting in on the act.

Some shun the idea of signs for walks: they’re not natural and take away a sense of discovery. This might be so on high ground, where a signpost could look incongruous, but at lower levels they give confidence to those who may be unsure or worried about getting lost.

Dunkeld and Birnam have a great network of paths and this walk follows one of them, the Inver Path. As autumn prepares to go into full spectacular display, now is a good time to visit. The fast-flowing Tay, with banks filled with trees, is a brilliant place to see the seasonal show. And linking it with The Hermitage, the site of an 18th-century wild garden, makes for a good stroll.

DISTANCE 5 miles.

HEIGHT CLIMBED 580ft. TIME 2½ to 3 hours.

MAP OS Landranger 52 or 53.

PARK Drive a couple of miles north of Dunkeld on the A9 and turn off on to the B898. The Forestry Commission’s Douglas Fir Wood car park is 100 yards down the B898, on the left.

IN SUMMARY From the car park entrance, cross the road and follow a path into trees and through an underpass below the railway then under the A9 before bearing right to follow the River Tay downstream.

Keep by the river, and after about a mile and a half you reach Neil Gow’s Oak, where the 18th-century fiddler is said to have composed. Further down the river Thomas Telford’s bridge, linking Dunkeld and Birnam, comes into view and the path goes right, away from the water. After about 200 yards the path meets the River Braan, passes below the A9 then swings right, rather than crossing a footbridge.

On reaching a minor road go right to walk through the village of Inver. At the top of the road go left to follow a path by the A9 for a short way before going left, down to The Hermitage car park. At the far end of the car park keep left, by the river, and pass under the railway line. The main path leads to Ossian’s Hall, the centrepiece of a grand garden built in the 18th century, with great views of the thundering falls.

The route back starts about 50 yards before the hall, where you go right and pass a totem pole, erected by a group of First Nation Canadians from the Squamish Nation. Then the path swings right to meet forestry tracks. Follow the track straight ahead, through trees. After about a mile, at a junction, go right then drop down to the left, on a grass path that leads to another track. Go right and the car park is a few yards.

REFRESH The Taybank pub in Dunkeld has good stovies and music. Or, the Birnam Institute has a good café.

WHILE YOU ARE IN THE AREA The 14th-century Dunkeld Cathedral (www.dunkeldcathedral.org.uk) on the banks of the Tay is stunningly picturesque.

NICK DRAINEY