![]() Curving round to another set of tall metal gates by Glack Kennels, the track veers back into woodland and a gradual ascent to Mill Dam, a reed-fringed loch with an old wooden boatshed. A more traditional parting shot at the bottom of the sign reminds you to keep dogs on a lead and “be a mate and shut the gate”.įrom here, the track meanders through shady oak woodland, crossing a small bridge and passing a stone cottage before emerging into an open landscape of craggy fells, the silence broken only by birdsong. Scottish estates, like everyone else, are monitoring their impact on the land. ![]() ![]() Gone are the days when walkers could stomp heedlessly across the hills. Cattle, the notice explains (with diagrams and pictures), improve the soil’s microbiome and increase biodiversity by providing a rich habitat for pollinators, birds and other wildlife. Trampling vegetation back into the soil also helps to recycle nutrients and sequester carbon. I stopped to read the large sign explaining that I was now passing into an area of regenerative farmingĬattle and sheep are moved every 24 hours to optimise grazing and rest the pasture. Passing through a metal gate I stop to read the large sign saying that this is an area of regenerative farming. I like the Atholl Woods circuit, a seven-mile circular yomp, partly because it heads east into the hills away from the A9 – Dunkeld also sits just off the north-south route from Perth to Thurso.įollowing the wooden signpost pointing 2¼ miles to Mill Dam, I set off up a rough forest track through new plantations of pines muddled with bushy rhododendrons. A handful of routes spiral out from the Cally car park, three-quarters of a mile outside the village. ![]() The village is at the southern end of Atholl Estates, 226 square miles of moorland, mountain and forest, threaded with tracks and trails. Dunkeld woos walkers with spectacular Highland scenery on its doorstep. ![]()
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