Evanton combines a 65-hectare woodland just behind the village with notable landmarks from its history. This gives your trip two distinct focuses: woodland trails and the history of a planned village. When choosing Evanton for a stay, you can start your hotel search by considering whether you would like to focus more on nature or historic buildings. The places and trails below offer some specific points to consider.

Woodland and trails around Evanton

Evanton Wood is a mature woodland covering 65 hectares, directly behind the village. It is bounded by the Allt Graad/R.Glass and Blackrock Gorge. Its size, mature trees and named boundaries make the woodland a distinctive landscape feature in its own right.

You can reach Evanton Wood on foot or by bicycle via Chapel Road. Access is via a signposted path to the right of the Chapel. Check local access conditions before your visit.

A short woodland walk leads from Evanton to Black Rock Gorge. Terrain and access can change; check local conditions before setting out.

Near Lower Balconie, a path runs along the River Skiach; another route follows the shore of the Cromarty Firth. The paths offer different landscape settings: the river at Lower Balconie and the Firth shore on the second route. Conditions along the River Skiach path can change; take erosion and weather into account on the Cromarty Firth route. Check current conditions before setting out.

Following work completed in 2016, local paths had been widened and surfaced, making them suitable for pushchairs, wheelchairs and mobility scooters. Surface conditions can change; check the current state before your visit.

Building history and historic sites

The former Secession Chapel is a two-storey, five-bay building dating from the early 19th century. It stands at the end of the main street of the planned village of Evanton and was later used as a Free Church school. The five bays describe the façade's layout, while the two storeys indicate the building's height. The Chapel thus brings together a specific architectural form, its role in the village plan and its later use.

The ruins of Kiltearn Old Parish Church are one of the most important historic sites in the village of Evanton. A survey of the burial ground at Kiltearn Old Kirk documented 378 memorial stones and 72 grave markers in 2017.

The village's history can be viewed from different perspectives: at the Chapel, the focus is on its architectural form, the village plan and its later use as a school; at Kiltearn, the ruins and the findings of the burial-ground survey come together.

Discover more destinations: Strontian, Isleornsay, Croy, Kinlochewe, Portnalong, Scarfskerry, Strathpeffer, Duntulm.

For the main travel overview: Highland.