Active

Pit yourself against the elements in an exhilarating experience or, take it quietly doing just what suits your purpose. Your activity holiday can offer many experiences, some not to be embarked upon without knowledge – mountain climbing in Wester Ross or the North West of Sutherland, surfing the Caithness beaches to mention only two requiring the skills of an expert.

Go the extra mile to seek out activities in the Northern Highlands to suit different tastes and different abilities, then wonder why you ever tried elsewhere! Where else can you get on the back of a horse and trek through some of the finest scenery in the world or golf at the fascinating 9-hole course in Durness on a cliff edge affording so many distracting views, it is difficult to keep your eye on the ball, a challenge quite different from the elegance of the Royal Golf at Dornoch. Caithness and Ross-shire both offer many courses – check them out on this site.

Horse-riding on the expanse of silver sands at the mouth of Naver Bay in Bettyhill is a joy, or ride through rugged hills, forestry and streams at the Gairloch Trekking Centre. Book in at the BHS approved Achaurole at Halkirk for a real riding holiday.

You don’t have to be a mountaineer to enjoy scrambling over rough tracks that lead to spectacular summit views in all areas of the north with some walks such as the circular walk at Contin taking in Rogie Falls particularly suited to families. Hike to the most northerly point on the UK mainland at Dunnet Head or be really adventurous and head off for the Capewrath Challenge – five days of runs of varying lengths and different degrees of endurance! Combine your orienteering with wildlife opportunities, whether the excitement of whale watching or viewing the stag from a safe distance as he roars his defiance and guards his harem in the rutting season of October.

For some, hunting and fishing is the highlight of the year and nowhere better than the estates and rivers of the north. Three of the many sporting estates include Balnagown Estates in Ross-shire, Alladale Estates in Sutherland and Ulbster Estates in Caithness for just a taste of what could be in store if you chose an activity holiday with a difference. Contact CASTAG for guidance on reserving fishing on lochs and rivers where the wild brown trout is ready to do battle with the active angler.

Or are you going to go for tough and hit the mountain bike trails! Then you must try the Highland Wildcat facility at Golspie, proving to be one of the best ever trails. A softer option may be to get on your bike and tackle Scotland’s greatest cycle routes, mapped out by Sustrans in a voyage of discovery to John O Groats or take the scenic mid-country route through Lairg to Tongue. Wherever you cycle, the north will reward you with a constantly changing field of vision: quiet country roads, forest tracks, coastline routes through scattered seaboard villages, and everywhere,

the chance to stop and record your journey with the spectacular backdrop of sea, sky, mountains, rivers lochs and the commanding Caledonian Pines.

It may be quad-biking that takes your fancy. The four star Scottish Highlands Retreat at Craiglea in Latheronwheel offers you that and much more.

How about kayaking or canoeing instead? Contact the Caithness Kayak Club in Wick or Cape Adventure International in the west for the experience of a lifetime. Sailing and water-sports can be found in all three northern counties with a splendid variety of boat trips and cruises, giving close encounters with sea-caves and the wildlife of the sea. Go on, try a roller coaster white-water ride with North Coast Marine Adventure out of John o’ Groats! If your maritime experience must include scuba diving, Richard Ross of Creag Ard Charters, Garve, Ross-shire, is your man, the trip round the Summer Isles in itself an activity you will never regret.

Hike through Scotland’s first Geo-park in the North West; hike anywhere and it can be as challenging or as moderate as you want to make it, such is the variety of the terrain in this vast countryside.

But little can be as challenging as taking part in the surfing championships for which the north is now well known, Thurso being a mecca for surfers from September to January.

So, all year round, you will find an extreme variety of activities to give pleasure to the diversity of visitors who chose the Northern Highlands of Scotland. You too can be one of those discerning visitors, free to enjoy all that is waiting here for your pleasure.

© Joan Campbell