📌 Killiecrankie, Perth & Kinross
★★
A National Trust site with visitor centre, rocky gorge and river rapids, railway viaduct, verdant forest (with wonderful autumn colours) and Jacobite history – Killiecrankie seems to have all the attributes for a popular tourist destination. Soldier’s Leap is the literary climax, where a Redcoat soldier is said to have leapt 18 feet across the gorge while fleeing from the Jacobite army during the 1689 Battle of Killiecrankie. Whether apocryphal or not, the story adds drama to the place, which makes up for the site’s greatest disappointment: views of the gorge from the main path are severely restricted by trees. A few agile adventurers may be able to scramble down to river level on informal paths, but most visitors will need to be satisfied with distant glimpses between branches – or try one of the other riverside walks we feature nearby, such as at the Linn of Tummel.
🌍 Location
📌 River Garry, off the B8079 just south of Killiecrankie village. Main viewpoints are around:
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NN 915626
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.742275,-3.775558
🚌 Bus stops at visitor centre
🚗 Car park (charge) at 🧭 NN 917626 / 🛰️ 56.742436,-3.771467
📝 Key info
⌚ Always open (visitor centre: daily)
🎫 Free
💬 From the car park & visitor centre it’s a 5-min walk downhill to the main viewpoints on a choice of paths. If great care is taken, an informal path descends very steeply to the river bank from the right (upstream) side of the main viewpoint.
