Balmacara Woods are situated a short way off the A87 just 5 minutes drive from Kyle of Lochalsh. This former campsite is now managed by Forestry and Land Scotland with many waymarked paths to explore. The walk we undertook was very accessible for us and some of the other paths we saw peaked our interest for a return visit.
Location of Balmacara Woods
Driving from Kyle of Lochalsh towards Inverness on the A87 take the minor road on the left signed for Balmacara Square. Immediately on your right there is a track down to a small parking area. This is where the walks into Balmacara Woods all start. From the other direction on the A87, heading towards Kyle of Lochalsh the turning is on your right, 1 mile out of Reraig. Do not take the turning after Highland Adventures, it is the one after that.
There are no designated parking spaces, simply some gravelled areas in front of the old site office. The path starts on the right hand side just past the old office building.
The Tree Spotter Trail
The trail map is available in a downloadable pdf from Forestry and Land Scotland. We chose to follow the yellow Tree Spotter Trail. it is the shortest of all the trails and suited us down to the ground. There is no need for a map or boots as the path has a good surface throughout and has coloured waymarkers.
The circular route is approximately 1.2km or 0.75 miles. As the woods were once a campsite you are following the old vehicle route between the pitches. Despite the leaf mould and small bits of soil and gravel there is a solid road surface underneath. The first short section round the gate at the start of the path is the roughest section but it is by no means difficult. Sarah managed very well with her rollator and glided over the top of any stones and leaves. As the old road surface comes to the top the going is very easy.
Along the way you get glimpses of the old campsite with evenly spaced cold water taps. They are quite a strange sight if you had no idea of the history of the woods. In fact the taps made us laugh out loud, they were quite a strange sight on a woodland walk. You can hear the low rumble of traffic on the A87 but not so loud it drowns out bird song. You might also get a glimpse of a squirrel in the tree tops.
Other trails
About three quarters of the way around our yellow route the blue route branched off to our right. We could see the first 1-200 metres and although a little softer underfoot it still looked a reasonably good surface. One day we will come back and adventure a little up the blue route. It will be too long for us to complete but we do like to be nosey! Details of all the routes are on the pdf so if you are fairly mobile and want a gentle walk they look perfect on paper.
The last section of our yellow route was on a good tarmac road surface. Just before we got back to the car there was a metal 5 bar gate which was padlocked. There was a gap to the side of the gap that Sarah could negotiate carefully with her rollator. However, this might be a bit trickier for someone in a wheelchair. A small chair may fit through but we can’t be sure 100%. A large electric/battery powered chair definitely wouldn’t as the ground is a ridge with a sharp drop on the left hand side. That said, there is always the option to get a bit more fresh air and come back the way you came if you can’t get through.
At our very slow walking pace we completed the circuit in 30-40 minutes. It was the perfect location for a very gentle stroll. Here’s a short video from our walk.