Walk: Forgotten Falls of Turret

Perth & Kinross | Crieff | Short walk | ★★

[One of the waterfalls making up the Falls of Turret]

A visit to the Falls of Turret is a descent into a lost world, to a beauty spot popular 150 years ago but now all but forgotten. The 1845 New Statistical Account of Scotland says this of the upper fall: "...the bosom of a deep and thickly planted dell, where this stream, as if struggling to find a passage, has worn a chasm in the opposing and nearly meeting rocks, a beautiful cascade is formed, of the height of thirty feet, over which the water, when swollen with rain, rushes with a deafening roar." The atmosphere of the place wasn't lost on the local landowner, who built a bridge, seat and rock-cut grotto at the base of the falls for lucky visitors. It's still an enchanting location, with the rusting bench and bridge miraculously still standing after decades of stormy winters; the history enriches what is, in reality, an attractive but unexceptional waterfall. Getting down to burn level from the track above is a bit of an adventure though, as any path is long gone and there are a couple of fallen trees to clamber over while negotiating steep ground. At least when you make it to the bottom you're pretty much guaranteed to get the place to yourself.

[Old bridge at the Falls of Turret]

📌 Walk: Forgotten Falls of Turret ★★
Start / finish at track junction on minor road (verge parking) between Glenturret Distillery and Loch Turret Reservoir, 2 mi northwest of Crieff, G.R.: NN 838246 ///cheerful.miracles.hiked

▶ 1 km / <1 mi | ▲ 80 m | ⌚ Short | ⬤ Tough
Features: Falls of Turret
Terrain: Good tracks (or rougher path) most of the way, then very steep descent (only hints of a path) to burn level for waterfalls and grotto.

Route & map

Start - cross Kiplonie Bridge - follow track (or path to left) downstream on south side of burn - Falls of Turret - return by outward route

Route credit: Scotland Off the Beaten Track

On our visit

Wildlife: Forest birds and a few annoying wasps.
Weather: Mostly sunny overhead, though shady and damp by the burn.

Also on this walk

📌 Falls of Turret ★★
On the Turret Burn 2 mi northwest of Crieff, G.R.: NN 839243 ///fool.intro.hoops
Always open | Free

Anything else? Easiest access to the waterfall on its own is still by the route described above.

[Rusting seat by the falls]