Corrieshalloch Gorge, owned by the National Trust for Scotland, has been treated to a revamp. There is a new visitor centre, dedicated parking and a new pathway to access the natural attraction. I was fortunate to visit before it fully opened to the public.
The sights and sounds of Corrieshalloch Gorge
Walking a gently sloping path from the new visitor centre at NTS-owned Corrieshalloch Gorge and along the southern banks of the Abhainn (river) Droma, I am quickly immersed in the sights and sounds sights of a beautiful Scottish landscape.
The water flows westwards, slipping over vast rocky slabs and below an attractive woodland of native birch trees, with their straight and narrow silvery trunks pushing upwards from moss-and-fern-covered ground.
For a while, it is possible to hear the quiet flow of the river although this is soon overtaken by a louder noise of crashing water somewhere in the near distance. Yet, still, the source of the watery cacophony has not revealed itself and I continue on the winding path, journeying deeper into a mixed woodland comprising more native trees and taller Scots pines.
Over some 22 years, there has been a carefully planned rewilding, planting and management programme at the gorge, which is also Scotland’s smallest National Nature Reserve. Other conservation work has seen then removal of invasive plants, such as rhododendron ponticum and Japanese knotweed, to allow for a more abundant natural ground growth.
As the Droma descends further, it cascades over a series of three small but eye-catching waterfalls. Each one has been given a Gaelic name, An sruthen, Eas stapach and Eas Creagach.
£3million NTS project
These landmarks on a new 900-metre path from the visitor centre to an historic suspension bridge have been freshly revealed as part of a multi-million pound development at the gorge, which is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
The £3 million project includes more than £900,000 funding from the Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund, which is led by NatureScot and funded through the European Regional Development Fund.
As operations manager at Corrieshalloch Gorge, Martin Hughes, explains, there are three main pillars in the 10-year NTS strategy for the gorge. He says: “Conservation is an important focus for the project.
“As well as the woodland re-planting, new pathways have been built, including boardwalks to protect tree roots and landscaping around the visitor centre buildings that focuses on native and local plant species. In addition, the shape and scale of buildings has been kept to a minimum and there are many sustainable features, such as rainwater harvesting, mechanical ventilation and heat recovery.”
Sustainable project
In fact, sustainability is another key pillar. Hughes adds: “We have an opportunity to support sustainability of the NTS as a charity, by encouraging more people to become members, and we are also playing a role in caring and maintaining one of Scotland’s great natural assets for future generations.”
Meanwhile, the third pillar is “engagement”. Martin says: “We want to engage with both visitors and local people, to better enable access to Scotland’s beautiful places and to provide a better understanding Scotland’s natural heritage and biodiversity. It’s a major bonus to have a NTS visitor centre base, with educational opportunities, information and rangers, in this part of the country.”
Economic benefits
There are also economic benefits locally, especially as the redeveloped tourist attraction approaches an official opening in April 2023. The reserve has employed a full-time and permanent visitor service manager and a ranger. There will be up to six more visitor service assistants during the high season months.
A bridge over the gorge
Continuing my walk, passing a number of newly installed information boards, I turn a corner to reach a surprising engineering marvel. A suspension bridge, dating to Victorian times, spans the precipitous, 60-metre high walls of the gorge. It is here, as I walk somewhat tentatively along the narrow, slightly swinging walkway, that I see the source of the torrenting water sound that as been an almost constant companion throughout my stroll.
Stopping mid-way on the 25-metre wide bridge, I peer cautiously down over the bridge sides at the impressive Falls of Measach, which plummet 46 metres on the Droma. When in șpate, the water of the falls sprays the faces of bridge viewers.
It’s now that the breath-taking extent of the box canyon is seen, stretching in length to 1.2km, with a drop of 100 metres from the top near the visitor centre to the bottom at Loch Broom. A short path traverses the high ground at the edge of the gorge on the northern side, between the bridge and a superbly located cantilevered viewing platform.
It’s fair to say, visitors require a head for heights on both the bridge and the platform but the rewards are fabulous vistas north and south.
The geology of Corrieshalloch
Corrieshalloch, which is acclaimed as one of the UK’s most spectacular box gorges, demonstrates the effect that water and ice can have on a landscape. In the latter period of the Ice Age, some 12,000 years ago, a vast glacier filled the Loch Broom valley. Glacial meltwater flowed along natural faults in a bedrock, itself comprising a block-and-layer formation of 20-million-year-old gneiss and schist, and resulted in the carving out the gorge.
The deep gash in the ground creates a moist and sheltered microclimate, often several degrees warmer than above, where a a rich and varied flora flourishes. The dark and shady conditions are perfect for plants and in spring ands summer, you can spot sanicle, mountain sorrel, germander speedwell, saxifrage and serval varieties of fern, among others.
Ravens often nest in the ledge beside the suspension bridge, while golden eagles can occasionally be seen soaring above the gorge. Trout have made their home in the deepest pools of the River Droma.
A gem for all seasons
For the best and brightest colours, autumn treats visitors to the fiery coloured leaves of the trees that cover the reserve. Even in winter, the rocky walls of the gorge are covered in a verdant carpet of mosses and ferns.
The reserve is also home to a nationally rare species of cranefly (Lipsothrix ecucullata), which thrives in damp rotten wood in shaded areas.
On the return walk to the visitor centre, there is an option to follow a trail known as Lady Fowler’s Fern Walk. Examples of plants here include lady fern, male fern, ladder fern and hart’s tongue fern.
There are future plans to create another path, high on the northern side of the gorge to the east of Measach falls. A second bridge is set to be built close to a rock known as the pinnacle so that visitors can complete a circular route of the reserve.
After a very pleasant hour-and-half of strolling, I head back uphill, passing the three smaller falls again. On the ground to the side of the path, I spot a tiny and very busy mouse scurrying from the shadow of one plant to another. As the sound of the larger falls begins to recede, the chirping of woodland birds seems suddenly much louder.
“It’s such a wonderful place,” says Martin, echoing my own thoughts. “We are looking forward to being able to welcome visitors to enjoy a more immersive experience at the gorge and stay for longer.”
History notes: Corrieshalloch Gorge
Corrieshalloch Gorge was once part of the Braemore estate owned by Sir John Fowler (1817 to 1898). He was the chief engineer of the Forth Bridge and responsible for the world’s first underground railway, the Metropolitan in London.
Alongside his friend and business partner Sir Benjamin Baker, he also built the suspension bridge over the River Droma circa 1874. The bridge is more specifically a suspended deck span. It has cast iron pylons, a wrought iron deck and utilises suspension cables instead of chains.
The Braemore estate passed to John Calder in 1928, who later gifted Corrieshalloch Gorge to the NTS in 1945. It was designated a National Nature Reserve in 1967.
Travel and further information
Corrieshalloch Gorge is located on the A832, just west of the A835, which journeys between the Highlands capital city of Inverness and the coastal town of Ullapool.
A car park, 11 miles from Ullapool, has space for 22 cars, four motorhomes or mini-buses, six motorcycles and two coaches. There are also two disabled and parent-and-child parking bays, two electric car charge points and blue and grey waste provision for motorhomes. Parking is free for NTS members and £5 for non-members.
The Corrieshalloch Gateway to Nature Centre offers new facilities on the North Coast 500 route, including toilets, wifi, an outdoor coffee stop and a covered outdoor seating area. Guided walks will be led by on-site rangers.
Another NTS property, Inverewe Garden at Achnasheen, is a 50-minute drive way.
See Corrieshalloch Gorge.
What’s in name?
The Gaelic language is knitted into the culture of the Highlands and still frequently used to described places and the landscape.
Four new touchpoints on the freshly created path at Corrieshalloch Gorge have been given Gaelic names.
They include:
- Na leachan – the slabs
- An sruthen – the streamlet
- Eas stapach – the stepped falls
- Eas Creagach – rocky falls.
In addition, the largest waterfall at the gorge is called the Falls of Measach and also known by its Gaelic name, Easan na Miasaich, meaning “fall of the place of the platters”. This refers to the smooth, rounded boulders on the riverbed above the falls.
Corrieshalloch is variously translated as “ugly hollow”, “dirty gorge” and “turbulent waters”.
Go deeper at the gorge
The reserve allows one canyoning trip a month, for a maximum of 10 people. Contact https://www.kayaksummerisles.com/canyoneering/