The Hermitage Woodland Walk is a magical, family-friendly walk through the woods. One of the reasons this Tay Forest Park walk is so fun is that it was once a pleasure ground for the Dukes of Atholl in the 18th century. The Dukes designed the area and planted many of the trees for their personal enjoyment.
Keep reading for all the details you need to enjoy the Hermitage Woodland Walk with kids, plus a short video from our family hike so you can see what it was like for yourself.
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The Hermitage Woodland Walk Highlights
There are three main highlights of the Hermitage hike, but this walk is much more than the highlights. It’s an all-around great family walk through a beautiful forest, next to a beautiful river with many fun and interesting things to see along the way.
For us, the enormity of the Douglas fir trees was the highlight of this walk. Many of these magnificent trees are nearing their 300th birthday.
The up-close view of the Black Linn waterfall from the balcony in Ossian’s Hall is amazing. Had the kids not been so excited to keep on hiking, we’d have wanted to linger there a lot longer.
The Hermitage itself is such a cool element to the hike. It’s historic, very interesting and a ton of fun.
The Hermitage Woodland Walk Stats
How Long is the Hermitage Woodland Walk?
The official round-trip distance of this hike is 1.7 miles / 2.7 km, but our kids were having so much fun running around and exploring that we ended up walking 2.4 miles / 3.9 km.
How Steep is the Hermitage Walk?
This hike is very flat with hardly any noticeable elevation changes. The total elevation change over the course of this hike is just 310 feet / 95 m.
How Difficult is the Hermitage Woodland Hike?
The National Trust for Scotland ranks this hike as “moderate”, but we respectfully disagree, The Hermitage walk is short, flat and fun, so we would rate this hike as ‘easy’. Our 3 & 6 year old’s basically ran the entire way, running from rock-to-rock or tree-to-tree. We saw lots of other families on this popular hike.
How Long Does the Hermitage Walk Take?
This hike took us 1 hour and 25 minutes to complete, which is much faster than normal for us. Granted it was a pretty easy hike, but the main reason is how much fun the kids were having; they just kept running ahead to see what the next fun thing would be.
Our Hermitage Woodland Walk Cork With Kids Video
Want to see what our family hike on the Hermitage Woodland walk looked like? This short video gives you a better feel for the scenery and what it was like hiking the Hermitage Woodland Walk with kids.
After watching, keep reading for more Hermitage Woodland walk hiking tips and links to our related Scotland posts.
We’re slowly adding more of our family travel videos to our YouTube channel, so feel free to subscribe if you’d like to follow along.
The Hermitage Woodland Walk Location
The Hermitage carpark is in the Tay Forest Park, about 30 minutes north of Perth on Highway A9.
It also works well as a day trip from Edinburgh with kids, as it’s only a 90 minute drive away. It’s also along the way from Edinburgh to the Cairngorms National Park, making it a nice place to stop and take a break.
We used it as a stop after our time on the Isle of Skye with kids and before continuing on to Edinburgh.
Hermitage Woodland Walk Trail Map
The trail map for the family walk we followed through Tay Forest can be found on the National Trust for Scotland website. If, like me, you want a copy of the trail map on your phone, you can download the Ossian’s Hall, Seat, and Cave trail map onto your phone using the AllTrails app. It’s not an exact match for the official Hermitage walking trail, but it’s very close.
Due to its remote location, be sure to download the trail map in a location where you have Wi-Fi or a cell signal.
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What to Expect on the Hermitage Woodland Walk
You know a hike is going to be fun when it begins by walking through a deep archway under a train bridge; kids love running through tunnels like this. The archway stones are covered in moss – a small taste of the greenery to come.
The first part of the walk takes you through a stretch of giant Douglas fir trees, some of the tallest in the UK. To see how massive these trees are, have your kids stand in front of their trunks. The surrounding forest is very lush and green, with a canopy of green leaves overhead, moss growing up the sides of trees and ferns everywhere you look.
After 0.6 miles / 1 km, you will come to an old stone bridge across the River Braan. On the other side of the river, just downstream of the bridge, is the UK’s tallest tree. It’s kinda gangly looking, but hey, it’s a pretty old tree!
Looking upstream from the bridge is the Black Linn Falls, a powerful, roaring waterfall. The views from the bridge are good, but if you continue along the path for a moment, you’ll come to a building called Ossian’s Hall. The door looks like a permanent barricade but give it a push and it will likely open.
Ossian’s Hall was built in the 1700’s as a focal point in the Duke’s designed forest. The round balcony at the far end of this historic building is an incredible spot to enjoy the beauty and power of the Black Linn Falls up close.
Just beyond Ossian’s Hall, you will encounter several of the wishing trees found along the trail. Walkers for generations have made a wish as they pushed coins into the bark of these fallen or cut trees. It’s quite an amazing sight; be sure to bring some coins for your kids to try!
The forest thins out a bit as you continue along the trail. At the 1.4 mile / 2.2 km mark you will arrive at Ossian’s Cave (the hermit’s cave). This damp, little stone hut was built by the 3rd Duke of Atholl in the 1700’s to honor the blind bard Ossian.
Some local kids we talked to called it the Gruffalo cave! This little stone hut is a fun piece of history and is even more fun for kids to explore.
The trail starts to loop back at this point taking a slightly different route on the way back to the carpark. Keep your eyes open for a totem pole and more wishing trees along the way.
In addition to all the fun stuff described so far, kids will also love the Tay Forest Park wildlife. There’s black slugs, frogs and cool looking mushrooms along the trail.
The elusive red squirrel and pine martens also call this forest home, but we didn’t see any on our hike. You’ll likely see evidence of the pine martens by the purple poops on the trail. There are also tons of kid-sized rocks and fallen trees for kids to climb on.
There are many trails in Tay Forest; to follow the same route as us, follow the Crown symbol on the
signposts. Our trail is also known as “Ossian’s Cave”.
Hiking The Hermitage with Kids
There are several portable toilets in the parking lot.
There are no water stations though, so be sure to fill your hydration packs before leaving home. If you do forget supplies, there is a small snack shack in the parking lot.
The trail surface is mostly hard-packed dirt on a wide track, which makes it a good family walk and gives you room to walk side by side. Normal shoes are ok for this hike, but if it has rained recently, waterproof hiking shoes would be recommended.
As always, be prepared for all kinds of weather in Scotland. It was raining when we began this hike, but the sun was out by the time we finished. Be prepared for anything; wear clothing in layers, bring lots of water, sunscreen, rain gear, and something to repel the midges (we were not bothered by midges during our walk).
You could bring your child in an off-road stroller if you have one, however the most popular way parents bring their small children on hikes in Scotland is to use a backpack carrier for hiking.
Dogs are allowed on the Hermitage hike.
There are a lot of kid-sized climbing rocks and fallen trees along this trail. If your kids like to climb rocks (as ours do), they will love this hike.
Kids will love exploring around the tiny Hermitage building, but it’s several hundred years old, so remind them to treat it respectfully.
Before you head out, read our best tips for hiking with kids and see what we actually pack in our guide to hiking gear for kids.
Where to Stop for Lunch or a Break
There are many benches along the Hermitage Woodland walk where you can stop for a picnic lunch. Or, if you prefer, there are several picnic tables by the snack shack in the parking lot.
More Resources for Scotland with Kids
- See our full Scotland Road Trip Itinerary with kids to help plan your time in Scotland.
- We include everything we packed and what we wish we had left behind in our comprehensive Scotland packing list.
- Here are our favorite things to do in Scotland with kids.
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