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Glencanisp Nature Trail This nature trail is a short walk that you can do in less than half an hour starting at Glencanisp Lodge. It will give you a great view over the best of Glencanisp Estate. likely grown black oats and bere barley on the land you now walk on - potatoes were not introduced until 1760. Black cattle would also have roamed here. The Glencanisp Nature Trail is 500m long with a good path over its length. You can start from either end. As you walk around the Glencanisp Lodge route you will glimpse, in miniature, the process that Today the Glencanisp ground is very wet is happening all over estate (13,000ha) and the sphagnum moss grows Glencanisp estate; the adjacent Drumrunie estate well. It will eventually one restoration of a landscape (5,000ha) are owned by the day become peat and lock to its natural state with all people of Assynt. They away tons of carbon out of the natural processes View ofSuilven were bought in June 2005 the atmosphere. functioning to create a Many of these settlements under the new right to buy healthy ecosystem. were cleared to make room legislation and are now To understand this area for extensive sheep managed by the Assynt however, you must first grazing. The lodge here Foundation on behalf of the know a bit about its history. was built in 1850 by community and the public. The lodge and its policies Sutherland Estates as a stand amidst the stunning house for John Scobie, the The plantation of conifers beauty and stark landscape tenant of the new Lochinver has largely blown down and of Assynt which has seen sheep farm. is being replaced by birch, many changes over the rowan, oak and other native years. Parts of the land, Then, as sheep farming broad-leaved trees. A deer now seemingly deserted, became less profitable, this fence prevents the young were once home to small part of Assynt was set aside saplings from being eaten Turkeytail bracket fungusTrametes versicolor settlements and isolated for deer stalking. The by deer. homesteads. Indeed, the Fungi have started to work property was extended to on the fallen trees; recycling lodge sits on what was become a shooting lodge With the conifers gone, formerly known as all the nutrients from the and exotic conifer trees sunlight can now reach the Drumswardalain where four ground. Lichens and decaying timber and households once stood. were planted around the enriching the soil so plants building. mosses are first to colonise The people would have the open ground. Where the can grow healthier. 1 2 Torridonian Sandstone, of The nature trail was built in which Suilven is perhaps 2017 with funding from the the most well known. These National Lottery Heritage inselbergs, as they are Fund and Scottish Rural called, are one reason Development Programme Assynt is part of the North as part of Coigach and Once you get a bit of height West Highlands UNESCO Assynt Living Landscape the nature trail provides an Geopark. Partnership (CALLP). unrivalled view of the estate Tawny owls hunt for mice and and in particular the On the other side of the voles around the nature trail mountain called Suilven. glen lies the equally Many folk reckon the word impressive mountain called comes from the Norse, Canisp. If you have a pair of meaning Grey Pillar. The binoculars look out for our highest point, Caisteal Liath resident pair of golden is Gaelic and means the eagles flying between Grey Castle. Suilven is only Suilven and Canisp. 731m tall but because of the long walk into the base it will take you a good eight hours to get there and back. On a clear day you can see the layered strata of rock on its flanks. These layers were laid down 900 million years ago and give a clue to the mountain’s origin. Back then, great rivers, flowing from what is today North America, deposited sand and gravel all over Assynt. In places the sand debris was 7km deep. Subsequent erosion has left these isolated peaks of 3 4 The woodlands in Assynt are also a wellspring of diverse fern species. Look for maidenhair spleenwort on walls of the garden, and Lichens play a key role in common polypody growing the early stages of plant on the large boulders. successionby accessing the minerals in bare rocks and helping build the soils. Wild Hyacinth or Bluebell valuable representation of Maidenhair spleenwort Common polypody The feather light seeds of downy birch and eared typical woodland flora. There are also good stands willow have already blown Where the soil is richest in of broad buckler-fern, in from nearby woodlands. nutrients you may see golden-scaled male-fern, These species are pioneer bluebells, pignut, yellow hard fern, and also the very trees on any new ground. pimpernel, greater special oak fern. Look for Notice the ‘witches brooms’ stitchwort and others. Tree Lungwort Lobaria pulmonaria the triangular-shaped, pale on the downy birch; curious green fronds of the oak fern twiggy growths or galls, Although the soils over growing under the rocks. probably caused by a most of Glencanisp estate Some of the more are often thin and advanced lichens, such as fungus Taphrina betulina. Dense stands of bracken waterlogged, and the tree lungwort lichen, grows are an indicator of disturbed bedrock very close to the well here. You can see it on ground, including past surface, nevertheless the the large old beech trees. It human occupation. ground around the lodge is the largest lichen found in has been modified so large the British Isles and is a trees can grow. Tawny owls good indicator species of hunt for mice and voles our Scottish rainforest, Witches broom growing on downy birch here, under the canopy of where it likes a wet climate, When grazing is reduced it the sycamore and beech. typical of the west of Great-spotted woodpeckers Scotland. Lichens are often allows all sorts of flowering plants to flourish. In spring, also make nest holes in the used as an indicator of Golden-scaled male fern Oak fern dead branches. clean air before the bracken grows too tall, you will see a 5 6 The 18,000 hectares of the Glencanisp and Drumrunie Estates are open for access on foot all year. But please follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code www.outdooraccess-scotland.scot You have to be a walker to see the interior of the estate as there are no roads across them. And please be aware there may be stalking taking place during the deer management season from 1st July to 15th February. For more information about the Assynt Foundation go to: www.assyntfoundation.scot Charity number SC036540 Lesser Celandine How to get to the Nature Trail � Take the Glencanisp Lodge road from Lochinver. � Proceed approximately 1.5km along the single track. We would prefer if you park at the walkers car park if possible. � Another 1km will take you past Loch Druim Suardalain to the Lodge. � Parking is available near the Pole Barn for those less able to walk and if the walkers’ carpark is full. If driving all the way up, make sure you take the left fork in the track at Glencanisp Lodge & pass between the Lodge and the Honesty Shop. Glencanisp Nature Trail: Published by Assynt Foundation 2021 Photographs: ©David Haines; ©Chris Puddephatt; ©Andy Summers. Designed by: ©Andy Summers 2021 This production of this booklet was only possible with the support of the Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape Partnership scheme and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Scottish Rural Development Programme..

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