Black Isle / Inverness for Kids

[+a4gom]

Hi looking for a bit of advice from some cachers local to the above. We will be spending a week on the Black Isle at the end of Oct / begining of Nov. We were there earlier in the year and grabbed a few caches but our kids have lost interest a bit now the initial novelty has worn off and they have realised caching = walking.

I'm looking for either short walks which might have something else to offer, fossils, caves, beach etc or easy mountain bike rides which would enable us to pick up a few caches along the way. (Circular routes would be preferential.)

Not knowing the area we did upset the apple cart a couple of times when we were there earlier in the year doing walks which didn't look to long or arduous on the map but ended up been like an Everest expedition to the kids e.g. Eathie Fossil Beach and The Scottish Shilling Cache in one go.

 

Any advice gratefully received.

[+CC Moo]

Hi looking for a bit of advice from some cachers local to the above. We will be spending a week on the Black Isle at the end of Oct / begining of Nov. We were there earlier in the year and grabbed a few caches but our kids have lost interest a bit now the initial novelty has worn off and they have realised caching = walking.

I'm looking for either short walks which might have something else to offer, fossils, caves, beach etc or easy mountain bike rides which would enable us to pick up a few caches along the way. (Circular routes would be preferential.)

Not knowing the area we did upset the apple cart a couple of times when we were there earlier in the year doing walks which didn't look to long or arduous on the map but ended up been like an Everest expedition to the kids e.g. Eathie Fossil Beach and The Scottish Shilling Cache in one go.

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

Lots of caches in the woods on a sort of circular route which can be done on mountain bikes or walking, they are part of the Aerially Good Walk in the Woods series. There are also other caches further on in the woods which can be done on foot or bike. They have been placed by The Black Isle Crew for an event we held at midsummer. If you need further info please let me know. Also a lot of caches have recently been set called the Haggis Highway which stretches from John o Groats to Braemar, mostly cache & dashes on some of the more quieter roads, these were set by the Highland Haggi. There are a few just off the A9 and A835 as it passes through the Black Isle.

Edited October 15, 2012 by CC Moo

[+a4gom]

Thanks thats a good start, I can see from the map there are quite a lot of caches down the centre of the black isle in the forests but I can't see what the terrain is like i.e. how hilly they are.

[+CC Moo]

They are all fairly easy terrain, nothing like the hike to the fossil beach cache! Most of them are just off the forest paths which are well made in the case of the aerially caches. There is one that you can't ride a bike to (the cuckoo's nest) but the rest of those are all reasonably flat with gentle inclines. The caches with group names ie The Cure, Duran Duran, U2 are on or just off good forest paths too again mostly on the level. I have only done a few of the caches in the middle section ie The Sprawl, Stumped, Offside etc. These are more widely spaced so will take longer to do but the cache setter for those did them on his mountain bike. There are some caches around Chanonry Point where you can watch dolphins from but the sightings are becoming less this time of year. The best time to see them is usually a couple of hours after low tide but at the moment sightings are a lot lower as the dolphins are out to sea following the fish. We had an event at Chanonry last Christmas called the Last of the Mince Pies and these caches were set by Cakes R Us, so there are some which are cache & dashes and others which need a short walk, nothing too strenuous. There is also a series of caches in Taindore Woods on the Black Isle set by GerryU2 which start TW1, TW2 etc. These are a more up & down type of walk through a pleasant wood with views across the Beauly firth and Inverness. If you want some devious cache & dashes you should check out Ujax, his caches are usually very difficult to find and hidden in devious ways that'll have you scratching your head. They are mostly around Culloden Inverness. We found Third Time Lucky, Luck, Clava Bridge last week - some easy, some took a while!

[+a4gom]

Thanks very much for your help, looks like there's enough to keep us busy in the woods then. I did the one at the end of the point earlier this year while the family were busy watching the dolphins and intend to pick the rest up this time.

Lets hope the weathers good.

[+CC Moo]

Just had another couple of ideas for caches suitable for mountain biking. Quaking Bogs of Monadh Moor & Lovely Lochans, we regularly walk the dogs around here and it is an easy well made path, although it can be muddy in some places. Quaking Bogs GC1MBXF is not as dangerous as it sounds if you keep to the paths. There are lots of sign boards all the way around which have been painted by local primary school children showing local flora & fauna which can be found in the area. Lovely Lochans GC2KTDG has a tragic story but you do not need to go near the water for this cache. If you keep to the paths you will be fine. Off the Black isle & just above Loch Ness is Abriachan Forest which has a couple of caches, one in the carpark and another a little way into the woods GC3BFPX this is a family friendly woodland with lots of unusual things to see. Abriachan.org.uk If you fancy a longer walk with fantastic 360 degree views just a bit further on is Carn na Leitre GC2TERZ Terrain 3.5 with a few steep uphill sections but can be done in just over an hour. On the way to these there are a few Haggis Highway cache & dashes. Back on the Black Isle is Oan yer Bike GC2Y7MG a cache & dash but at Learnie which has lots of different level mountain bike trails for all abilities I believe, not tried them myself! Another cache you might find interesting is It does grow on trees GC1G2JX, it involves a round trip walk of just over 2km mostly on good paths but again some can get muddy. There is a multi you can do on the way too, The Fairy Glen GCX0YF. Hope this give you some food for thought and that you have a great time when you visit the Black Isle.

[+a4gom]

Thanks for all the tips they have been very helpful, doubt i'll get round them all in a week.

We've done Oan yer Bike, we rode over from Flowerburn where we were staying, the kids took the wife down the Calachy Downhill, she hasn't ridden a bike since she was a kid! There was a bike of screaming. We also did It does grow on trees GC1G2JX, not sure why we didn't do The Fairy Glen, probably didn't have the info for the questions on the gps.

 

Thanks again for all you help.

[+Betelgeuse]

Ardersier point has a few easy caches one of which is a cold war observer corps observation post. It's a nice easy walk along the beach and you may be lucky enough to spot the Moray Firth dolphins.