Borgie Forest
Borgie Forest is a plantation by the Forestry Commission in northern Sutherland, south of the village of Borgie. It takes its name from the River Borgie, a famed salmon river, in whose valley much of the forest lies. Salmon are seen jumping in the river within the forest in spring.
The Borgie Forest was one of the first Forestry Commission plantations in Scotland, and eight of the original Scots pine and spruce trees which were planted here in the 1920s remain unfelled, and now stand by the Riverside Trail remarkably tall.
The forest has in recently years also received work to develop the wood as a visitor attraction. Nevertheless, this remains a working forest.
Visitors
The wood was planted to provide timber, from spruce and Scots pine. The purity of this purpose has latterly been compromised to attract visitors. The Commission has replaced areas of conifer with a mixture of broadleaf and native trees, such as alder, birch and rowan. With a nod to the Gaelic culture formerly of this area, trees have been planted so that each letter of the Gaelic alphabet is represented by a different tree.
Near the entrance to the forest is A'chraobh (meaning 'the tree'); a short spiral walk through the Gaelic alphabet in trees. At the centre of the spiral is a twisting drystone wall, its stones taken from a nearby clearance village.
Also within the forest are places for walkers, bikers, bird watchers and more. Two waymarked walks run close to the River Borgie and in the springtime the flowering gorse is particularly enjoyable.
Location
- Streetmap: NC663582
Outside links
- Borgie Forest: The Forestry Commission