Dundreggan Rewilding Centre and a peaceful CL in Drumbhan

Saturday 30 August 2025

Nido's parked up on a CAMC CL on the Drumbhan Croft, about 2 miles from the village of Bonar Bridge in Sutherland.  We've  a cracking view over the Sutherland hills and Loch Migdale.  We arrived yesterday for two nights to rest and recuperate after a few days on the road and to top up our leisure battery.  As I type one van has just joined us for our last evening.

Yesterday morning we visited the Dundreggan Rewilding Centre.  We came here a couple of years ago and it's already matured since then.  There are four marked walks: Juniper, Oak, Pine and Heather and we completed all but the Heather walk.  There's a huge diversity of flora and fauna and we enjoyed walking around the Centre. It's also the HQ for Trees of Life, who are working hard to replant many of the Scottish forests.  We made use of the cafe for some well needed tea, coffee and cake and I'd recommend a visit if you're in the area.

Driving along the western shore of Loch Ness, we joined a traffic queue of mainly tourist buses and motorhomes, many stopping off at the Nessie tourist honeypots.  We continued on to top up food and fuel in Inverness before driving a further hour north to the CL.  It took a while to get the van level, but then it was out chairs and table in the warm evening sunshine for a glass of red wine.  After supper I took Salty for a walk along the very quiet road, with the fields full of rabbits which was his idea of heaven!  That Cathy time to wash up and clear up before we had a quick YouTube catch up.

Breakfast this morning was eaten outside in hot sunshine with no wind.  We walked for a couple of hours along the quiet roads and into the forest.  The roads very much reminded me of France - quiet, with lots of trees and shrubs and various eclectic houses (Crofts) leading off up and down dusty, rocky tracks.  Back at the van, lunch was again outside and I spent the afternoon researching places to visit on our first couple of days on the Isle of Lewis.  By mid-afternoon the clouds had appeared with a fresh wind, so we retreated into the van, still enjoying the panoramic views from the cab.  I cooked a dinner of Ramen hot pot with chicken, vegetables and noodles and we chilled for the rest of the evening.  

Tomorrow we'll be making our way to Ullapool, ready for the Monday morning ferry to Stornoway.