Car parking is limited to a small area just off the single track road from Dallas Dhu distillery to the A940  Forres to Grantown Road. From here it is only a short walk to pick up the paths that circle the loch.

There are a number of footpaths around the loch and in Blairs Wood.

Whilst the paths are in reasonably good condition they can get a little muddy after long periods of wet weather. Walking boots, or study shoes, are recommended 😊.

A full map of the walks around Loch of Blairs is available from the link at the bottom of the page.

There are 2 bird hides available on the loch. The first, the Swan Hide, is accessed across the Jimmy Rooney Bridge at the end of the boat channel from the boathouse. The bridge is named after the father of one of our Friends who generously donated the funds to build the bridge.

The Swan Hide nestles amongst the trees on a small island and can comfortable sit 4 people. Located at the southern end of the loch it has wonderful views to the north. Work has commenced on constructing a wheel chair friendly access path across to the Swan Hide but this is now unlikely to be completed until the summer of 2021 due to COVID restrictions on volunteer work parties. We will, of course, update the website as soon as this access is completed.

The second hide, the Osprey Hide, has been built on an island on the east side of the loch. This hide is the bigger of the 2 and easily accommodate groups of 6 (perhaps 8 if you are friendly 😂). The location was carefully chosen in anticipation of fishing visits by the local Osprey population once we re-stock the loch with trout. Sitting on the east side of the loch the early morning sun rises behind the hide giving visitors perfect views on to the water. Osprey’s do most of their fishing early in the morning and this hide will become a great vantage point to observe, and hopefully photograph, these beautiful birds.

Also available around the loch are 3 excellent view points and a picnic area on

the boathouse peninsula. We hope our visitors will spend some time here enjoying the surroundings but we do ask that no fires are lit. The heavily wooded area, and marginal reeds in the loch, are particularly susceptible to wild fires so we must be very vigilant.

We look forward to welcoming you to Loch of Blairs and if you do happen to bump into a group of volunteers on a work party please say hello. They love an excuse to stop work for a while and blether 🤣🤣

Map of FoBL facilities path June 21

 

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