Author: Calum Rogerson

If you like to explore remote, unspoilt areas of the country, Loch Maree offers open space in vast quantities.  You need to drive (or cycle) west of Inverness almost to the coast to reach this wonderful area.  One of the best views in the Highlands is the view you get as you drive over the summit into Glen Docherty and look west to the Loch, a few kilometres in the distance. Poolewe and Inverewe Gardens Loch Maree is much longer than it is wide (20km long but less than 4km at its widest). It pours out into the sea at Poolewe, which is an interesting little place in its own right.  It benefits from the warm Gulf Stream water, and if you happen to visit the Inverewe Garden, you'll be treated to all sorts of plants and trees that really shouldn't be in Scotland! Given that Poolewe is at the same latitide as Moscow or Hudson Bay, it might surprise you to find rare Wollemi pines, Himalayan blue poppies, Californian redwoods and a fantastic variety of rhododendrons from China, Nepal and India. As you drive through the village, you see palm trees growing - quite bizarre! Walking and biking around Loch Maree Anyway, back to Loch Maree.  This wonderful Loch has plenty to offer the explorer, from awesome mountainous surroundings, historic islands, rare wildlife and a very wild feel about it. With a number of Munros looking down on the Loch including Slioch and Beinn Eighe, you definitely want to have a camera handy for some stunning landscape shots.  There is a huge variety of walking options (many of them lengthy, serious undertakings) in the area.  There are also what you might regard as 'epic' mountain bike routes in the area which aren't for the faint-hearted.   Not surprisingly, the