The Falls of Bruar
A short woodland walk with dramatic waterfalls
Google Maps Open Source Maps| Statistics and Files | ||
|---|---|---|
| Start: Bruar | Distance: 1.5 miles (2.4 km) | Climbing: 105 metres |
| Grid Ref: NN 82264 66032 | Time: 1 hour | Rating: Easy |
| GPX Route File | Google Earth File | About the Falls of Bruar |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Start: Bruar | Distance: 1.5 miles (2.4 km) |
| Climbing: 105 metres | Grid Ref: NN 82264 66032 |
| Time: 1 hour | Rating: Easy |
| GPX Route File | Google Earth File |
Ordnance Survey Explorer Map (1:25,000)
The Walk: The Falls of Bruar offer the combined attraction of magnificent waterfalls and a woodland landscape. A signpost, at the rear of the hotel car park, points through the trees to the waterfalls. In a short distance the magnificence of the falls becomes quite apparent. The water course through a deep chasm - steep sided and water worn. At one point the stream rushes through the chasm below an ancient rustic bridge and then drops away again to flow through a natural rock archway. More falls can be seen from the bridge, again flowing swiftly through narrowing of the watercourse.
Bruar Water
Whirlpool cauldron and erosion
The path continues from the bridge for another half mile, up through the narrow glen, through the birches, pine larches and past numerous colourful rhododendron bushes. The scene is quieter here than the drama by the bridge, with trees now dominating the landscape, but at the head of the valley another bridge leads back over the water into the gorge below and the path continues down the left bank, dropping at one point close to a steep drop where the view back up the glen is magnificent.
The scene is reminiscent of a Chinese painting. Pine and larch swathe the upper slopes on each side of the cleft, and the little humpbacked bridge is just visible, appearing to hold both sides of the glen together. below it tumbles in a long white slash of waterfall which crashes through the gorge.
Interestingly, Robert Burns, Scotland's most renowned poet, came to Bruar in September 1787, after a visit to the Duke of Atholl, who owned the land. At that time there were very few trees around the falls which is hard to imagine today. Burns was obviously impressed by the rock features and the rushing waters, but did not very much care for the bare moorland which surrounded the water on his visit. Perhaps why many trees have been planted since to improve the aesthetic of the place.
Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot.
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