Bridge opens access to best view of falls
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The footbridge over the Rogie Falls was replaced earlier this year after the previous bridge was struck by a rock and deemed unsafe.
It means access to the trails on either side of the Blackwater between Contin and Garve has been restored – which is fantastic, as this is a wonderful part of the Highlands to explore.
The Forestry Commission has also improved the trails on the road side of the river, which are hugely popular particularly during the summer months.
They are accessible via a car park beside the A835 Tore-Ullapool road just west of Contin. I headed there with my old friend Michael Lengden and his wife Sandie, and we both had our baby girls with us.
Without a real route plan, we started out on the red route opposite the road (not the path that passes the seasonal toilets) and went along the nicely surfaced path through the trees until a green marker signified a less clear route to our left, while a clearer set of zig-zags went down to our right.
Never one for taking the obvious route, I opted to turn left and follow this natural-looking trail through the forest. It was easy to follow, with regular markers to reassure you that you’re on the right path.
Being careful not to slip on rocks and tree roots, we made our way along this winding little way to a cleared patch of forest which offered a glimpse to the top of Little Wyvis, Ben Wyvis’s little brother.
Heading down to the water’s edge, the Blackwater looks serene here; further on it is a very different story as the river begins to tumble between rocks and over drops. The path tucks in closely to the water here and there as you move out of the cleared forest and back into the cover of the trees to reach a stone viewing area.
Here you get a magnificent view of the new footbridge, built in spring 2012 at a cost of £123,000. It’s a sturdier bridge than the previous one, and crosses at much less of a gradient.
As you wander down the narrow path to the bridge, you see more and more of the falls, and surely the best view comes from the bridge itself, as you can see upriver with the water gushing down below your feet.
Thankfully for the salmon, there’s a fish ladder to the right of the falls which certainly looks a bit easier than leaping up the falls themselves! We didn’t see any salmon this time but it’s a good spot to watch for them.
On the far side of the bridge we followed the path left to meet a forestry track climbing up away from the falls. At a T-junction at the top, a sign points left to Rogie and Contin to the right. Many different circuits are possible from here, though all of them are quite lengthy – take a look at the recommended Trailmap for all the options.
We decided to go right and head in the direction of Contin, stopping at the first track junction after about 1km to retrace our steps back to the falls.
There’s a bench at the junction which makes a good target for reaching, and it offers lovely views over the forest to Strathconon beyond – a fine sight in summer but perhaps even better in autumn as the leaves start to change colour.
The tracks here make for great mountain biking as well as walking, linking up Strathpeffer and Contin with Garve and the lower slopes of Ben Wyvis on some interesting routes.
Back over the Rogie Falls footbridge, we turned left to make our way up a slab of rock and follow the Forestry Commission’s red route a short distance until a path headed off right, which we decided to follow.
That turned out to be the zig-zags we’d seen earlier, so we climbed up them to reach the original path at the crossroads and turned left to return to the car park.
