2


1


As you follow the footpath up through the wood, pause at stopping point 2. Now you’re close to the first of the tall pines along the trail. Scots pine is the world’s most widespread cone-bearing tree, as familiar to someone in Siberia as it is to someone in Scotland. But the Scots pines here in their namesake country are special. They’ve developed in a climate that is much more moist, thanks to ocean-driven rain, than that on the continent.


2


You can pause at stopping point 4 and rest at the bench. The trees near here are young, but as you look around there are also many older, broad-crowned Scots pines. Some of these grew as seedlings when the ground was bared after severe fires that destroyed many trees more than 300 years ago. More recently, in pine lifetime terms, many trees in this part of the wood were felled in the 1940s. Royal Pioneer Corps lumberjacks from Newfoundland (then still linked to Britain, later part of Canada) did the felling towards the end of the Second World War. The pine timber was used to make ammunition boxes.


2


Looking towards Loch Maree from the woodland trail, visitors can see a range of pines of different ages.


3


Many visitors take the opportunity to pause for a rest by the cairn at the woodland trail high point.


4


Rowan berries provide a source of food for a range of birds and the elusive pine marten.


5


The dazzling great spotted woodpecker takes advantage of the standing deadwood seen along the trail.


6


The scarce northern emerald is one of the dragonflies visitors might spot.


40


The Nature of Scotland


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