Hidden History
First visit to Culbin?
Your Culbin visit
First-time visitors can enjoy a great
circular walk: The fully-accessible Hill 99
viewpoint trail meanders through the quiet pine forest
to a ‘squirrel’s-eye’ viewpoint in the tree tops. Or, for just
a short, gentle stroll, well surfaced paths lead you to the
easy reach Gravel Pit ponds.
Trails start from the main Culbin car park at Wellhill
where you’ll find toilets too.
Contact 1
Follow us on:
Forestry Commission Scotland
Moray & Aberdeenshire Forest District,
Portsoy Road, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, AB54 4SJ
Tel: 0300 067 6200
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.culbin.org.uk
www.forestry.gov.uk/scotland
Public enquiry line: 0300 067 6156
Designed by: Design & Interpretative Services, Forestry Commission Scotland - D&IS.5k/JTCP.03/17.Edition 7.
Photographs: Forestry Commission Scotland and Andrew Dowsett.
For
information
on what’s
available
around the
Moray Firth,
please
contact
2
Roseisle - Easy beach access, picnic facilities, toilets and forest
walks. For location for the map, see Forests of Moray leaflet.
3
Torrieston - All abilities trail, picnic facilities and forest walks.
For location for the map, see Forests of Moray leaflet.
4
Nigg Bay RSPB Nature Reserve
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
North Scotland Region Office
Tel: 01463 715 000 Email: [email protected]
Web: www.rspb.org.uk
If you need this publication in an
alternative format, for example, in
large print or in another language,
please contact:
The Diversity Team
Tel: 0300 067 5000
E-mail: [email protected]
For information on public transport services contact:
Traveline Scotland, 0871 2002233 or
www.travelinescotland.com
© Crown Copyright 2014
What was it like to leave
your home and run from
a sandstorm? Culbin was
a wild and unpredictable
place where people
had to learn to
adapt to change.
Here’s where to start...
Welcome to Culbin. This is no ordinary forest and
Culbin’s fragile shoreline is no ordinary coast.
Culbin is a wonderful place to walk, cycle and ride.
You can spend all day here going as far as
you can, but Culbin is also somewhere
to enjoy losing track of time.
Try watching the ordered world of
a giant wood-ant mound - with its
team-working and weight-lifting or oystercatchers’ beaks turn from
bright red to brown as they feed.
Wonder about the people of Culbin and their hidden
history at Junction 38, a sheltered corner to sit and
think about Culbin’s dramatic story. Something here for
younger visitors too. Where? See
the map inside.
One of the best ways to explore Culbin is by bicycle.
It’s never been easier to find your way around: key
junctions have clearly numbered posts, with the
numbers marked on the map in this leaflet.
There are some great places to stop, including
Hidden History and Sandlife where you can sit,
rest and decide which of Culbin’s wonders –
dunes, pools, shoreline – to head for next.
Horse riders are better catered for at the
Cloddymoss car park. Coastal birdwatchers might try
the Nairn East Beach access. Keep your eyes open for
the other beautifully-shaped seats dotted around
Culbin’s fascinating landscape.
Hill 99 Viewpoint Trail
This route is ideal for first-time
visitors. It’ll lead you along winding
paths, through forest and mossy
clearings. The route up to Hill 99
and its ‘squirrel’s-eye’ viewpoint is
well worth it. It’s a friendly,
waymarked trail on good paths
and suitable for almost everyone.
Take your time - allow two hours
or more. Relax and enjoy.
Allow 2 hours
Grade: Moderate
Culbin’s a big place, with so
much to discover.
To make the most of
your first visit, start with
the Hill 99 Viewpoint trail
Ancient peoples once wandered or
lived among these ceaselessly shifting
sands, adapting to the changes they
experienced in tides and weather. Piles
of sea shells left over from a feast
enjoyed thousands of years ago can
still be found deep in the forest.
In 1694, a cataclysmic storm became
the final straw for the Kinnaird family
(Culbin’s then owners) and their last
tenants. All were forced to abandon
their homes and livelihoods; now
buried beneath your feet.
Tales of lost lands, buried lives… In Culbin you
can allow your mind to wander, along with your feet.
and you’re bound to
come back for more!
Salmon fishing has always flourished in the shallow,
warm waters off Culbin. The shoreline has traces of old
netting equipment. And look out for
an old tin fish sign nailed to a
tree at Junction 12.
There is a detailed map of this
route on the inside of this guide.
What next? Culbin’s
landscape is always shifting.
Want to know more? Got a question? For visitor
information and much more, find the answers at:
Find out about this and
much more at:
www.culbin.org.uk
New life
takes root in
the desert
As the sand continued to
threaten land and homes,
the Forestry Commission took over
Culbin between 1922 and 1931 and began stilling the
sand by tree planting. Many early attempts failed so
branch wood was brought in from other forests to hold
the sand enough for the young plants to gain a footing.
Somehow both trees and foresters struggled on,
and by 1960 the massive task was largely complete.
www.culbin.org.uk
www.culbin.org.uk
Sandlife
At Junction 9, as well as
birds high in the treetops,
you’ll also spot many
surprises at ground level.
How has life clung to these
shifting sands? The trees have
gradually helped build a thin layer of
humus but there are still few nutrients. Many beautiful
or unusual flowers, mosses, insects, fungi, birds and small
mammals have adapted to make this harsh environment
their home. Other than the trees - and you - every single
living or growing thing you’ll find in Culbin has arrived
by chance, on the wind or washed in by water.
Rare lichens spread along the
shingle ridges and paths like
drifts of grey, green and
pink snow. People once
used this strange plant to
make dyes and folk
remedies. Lichens can
withstand both drought
and downpour, but they grow
slowly, and it’s all too easy to
destroy them just by accidentally trampling them.
Your part in
Culbin’s
future
Culbin’s ecosystems are
fragile, internationally
designated and protected by
law. Walkers and riders can help
maintain the delicate natural balance.
• Avoid any route which is likely
to crush any living or growing
thing – choose to stick to the
paths and trails
• This is a working forest too so
please look out for safety signs
Taking care when
out and about
Please remember that the weather can
change quickly. Please also be careful of the tide –
it’s very easy to get cut off on Culbin’s shoreline.
Trail Grades
Forestry Commission Scotland trails and walks are
graded according to the degree of difficulty, gradients
and type of conditions visitors can expect.
Easy
Sensible
footwear
Moderate
Waterproof
footwear
Strenuous
Hillwalking
boots
Easy
Muscle
Loosener
Moderate
Muscle
Stretcher
Strenuous
Muscle
Builder
• Motor biking is illegal here.
Please report incidents to
the Police. Give as much
information as you can.
Time and tide will continue to
change Culbin but we can all
help to look after this special place.
Today this huge forest of Scots and Corsican pine, birches,
alder and more is a complete and interdependent world.
It’s home to birds, mammals, insects and over 500 types
of plants, fungi and lichens.
Trees are felled only in small areas at a time and new
seedlings replace them naturally. What started as a
planted forest is becoming even more varied and natural.
The sands may appear still but as with all life on Earth,
Culbin is ever-changing.
www.culbin.org.uk
Eventually, farming people settled here and
eked out a living here under constant threat
from blowing sand. Uprooting marram
grass for thatch, and cutting turf for
fuel, helped to destabilise the dunes.
www.culbin.org.uk
Culbin
Explore | Discover | Enjoy
2
Dragonfly Pool
3
6
The Gut
Most of the narrow Culbin shoreline is an RSPB nature reserve, which stretches
from the edge of the forest to the low tide mark. It’s made up of saltmarsh,
sheltered mudflats, sand and shingle: this is ideal for long-legged, long-beaked
wading birds all year round and a perfect ‘winter resort’ for thousands of waterbirds who migrate here from their relatively cooler breeding grounds further north.
On a warm summer’s day
the air here is alive with
birdsong and even the
sound of brilliantlycoloured dragonflies,
rattling as they
shimmer through the
air. Look carefully and
you may see discarded
larvae cases, fixed halfway up plant stems.
The dragonflies emerge from
these, in the same way as butterflies,
which also thrive at Culbin.
A great place for the
Forestry Commission
ranger to lead school
pond-dipping visits,
these ponds were dug to
provide a source of fresh
water for birds, mammals and
insects. Although man-made, all Culbin ponds and
channels now play a critical part in the natural balance of
life here. Take a seat on the benches and relax. Look out
for yellow flag iris, chickweed wintergreen
and some unusual mosses nearby, too.
Hill 99 Viewpoint Trail
1
Gravel-pit
Ponds
People have lived in this constantly changing landscape for thousands
of years. Piles of seashells left from a feast enjoyed thousands of years
ago can still be found deep in the forest.
Poles in the water? – Put here in World War II
03
to prevent enemy gliders from landing!
02
04
01
Tidal S and
00
65
65
99
Findhorn
7
This route is ideal for first-time visitors.
It’ll lead you along winding sandy paths,
through forest and mossy clearings.
The route up to Hill 99 and its ‘squirrel’seye’ viewpoint is well worth it. It’s suitable
for nearly all abilities and takes a gentle
gradient. Why Hill 99? Probably named
by early foresters, this is Culbin’s tallest
dune at 99 feet high.
Allow 2 hours
Grade: Moderate
98
Hidden History
4
99
20m
To Junction 11
& ‘Sand Life’
m
10
m
20
44
20m
10m
45
9
To Junction 38
& ‘Hidden History’
7
6
13
63
Sandlife
10
m
41
Tidal Mud Flat
Tak
c
ca
car
T a care
Take
Tidal S and
12
9
5
1
Dragonfly Pool
42
1/2km
0
© Crown copyright. All rights reserved
Forestry Commission. Licence No. 100025498 2007.
99
0
1km
M
1/2mile
or
ay
F
95
h
irt
14
62
RS
PB
Na
t
e
ur
Re
se
rv
10
Hill 99
Viewpoint
e
15
2
45
Forestry Commission
Woodland
10m 20m
Gravel-pit
Ponds
62
18
Forest Road/Track
Kincorth
House
41
3
4
17
20
Hidden
History
38
19
Tower
42
Dragonfly Pool
Wellhill
1
See Hill 99 Trail Map
Culbin Forest
Tidal S and
12
Maviston Dunes
36
37
31
92
R
35
Maviston Dunes
Low Wood
29
32
Cloddymoss
1
Destination Point
SCALE 1:25000
27
High Wood
1/2km
1/4ml
1km
1/2ml
60
Moy House
A96 to
Elgin &
Aberdeen
Muirton
Wood
Ti
Ta d a
ke l S
ca and
re
11
26
Otter Pool
25
Broom of
Moy
At high tide and with stormforce winds behind it, the sea
can crash over the first low
dunes of Buckie Loch and into
its marshy grassland beyond.
Only the toughest of plants
and animals can survive here,
so look for wiry heather and
shiny black ants. Once this was
an inlet, but then the sand cut it
off from the sea. Look at it from
the shore and you’ll see that
bite by bite, the sea is winning
back the sand. Its salt spray
kills the trees before the waves
claim them. Floating tree-trunks
are a hazard for shipping, so
trees along the edge are often
removed before they fall.
Nature may soon come full
circle here, making Buckie
Loch a bay once more.
04
22
59
24
59
8
58
B
Na
tu
re
R
e
es
rv
Loch Loy
e
23
Loch Loy
Bankhead
Dyke
Lochloy
Wood
R
Downie
Wood
Kilnhill Wood
58
Brodie
Castle
01
ay
Railw
High Wood
Kingsteps
00
Cormack
Wood
88
Brodie
Nairn Dunbar
Golf Course
57
Nairn
Simplified Scalebar
Inshoch Moss
9
(approx 0.625 mile)
A96 to
Inverness
97
A96(T )
96
89
This map is reproduced from Ordnance Survey
material with the permission of Ordnance Survey on
behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery
Office © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction
infringes Crown copyright and may lead to
prosecution or civil proceedings. Forestry Commission.
Licence No. 100025498. Published 2008.
90
A96(
T)
Auldearn
91
56
94
Otter Pool
92
93
Without man-made sources of water, Culbin would not
have as many birds, mammals and insects. This secluded pool was created in the late 1980s to
encourage wildlife. Dawn is the best time to catch a glimpse – or hear the splash - of a vanishing
otter. And it’s also a good place to watch roe deer drinking at dusk. Be still… listen… Even if you don’t
see any wildlife, you can be sure that some creature will be keeping its eyes on you...
10
95
The Minister’s Pool
At the western end of the RSPB nature reserve, this is a good
place to sit, reflect and watch water birds enjoy a bath. They often
fly in and land with a splash to clean their feathers here. The rare sedge bed habitat nearby is
worth looking at, too. As for the name, legend has it that a Minister once used to skate here!
www.culbin.org.uk
99
98
Hardmuir
Wood
Hardmuir
One grid square = 1km
56
n
or
dh
Fin
r
ive
02
Brodie
Mains
Inshoch Wood
10
Findhorn Bay
03
Minister's
Pool
Tidal S and
East
Beach
11
Invererne
61
Buckie Loch
Forres
P
RS
88
Hill 99
Viewpoint Trail
0
91
Tidal S and
57
Toilet
Car Park
(charges)
0
S alt Marsh
90
Tidal S and
Car Park
Indicates preferred
approach to Culbin
33
21
Forest Walk
Mains of
Moy
30
28
60
n
or
dh
Fin
r
ive
Viewpoint
Picnic Place
Seafield
Kintessack
Snab of Moy
34
Junction Numbers
23
43
39
94
Sand dunes
2
40
16
93
11
44
61
89
Tidal S and
Key to map
3
The highest of these sculptured dunes is more than
15 m tall – and all created by sand grains no bigger
than the head of a pin. The ‘avalanche face’ of these
ancient dunes has eroded away to create waves of
U-shaped dunes facing west.
The birds migrating over
Culbin must get a fine
view of Maviston’s
beautiful curves.
63
Binsness
43
39
Along your way…
Look up to life in the rolling tree canopy. Listen… Look down: lush carpets of moss and lichen speckled with fungi
in autumn; wood-ant hills and flowering plants. Culbin is constantly changing. Look round: raised ridges of
pebbles - driven inshore over 5000 years ago by storm and tide.
12
Findhorn
Bay
4
The Gut
See section on the other side
of this leaflet.
40
3
Lady C
ulbin
Tidal Mud Flat
Sandlife
62
m
10
m
10
The circular route onwards from the
summit has a few steeper sections that
less able visitors might avoid by going
back down the way they came.
For others, the firm, waymarked path
completes a circuit back to the car park.
Take your time - allow two hours or
more. Relax and enjoy.
6
5
2
64
8
Tidal S and
96
Gravel-pit
Ponds
7
64
10m
62
97
See over the page for Culbin’s
amazing story!
Hill 99
8
5
Buckie Loch
Lady Culbin’s
Buried Trees
Lady Culbin is the largest single sand-dune system here, now covered with trees.
Near Junction 4 is an area of ‘buried trees’ – Digging down around old
stumps has shown that sand continued to shift around the trees as they grew.
Some stems actually taper downwards towards the root – rather like the tip of
a pencil! Find out about this and much more at: www.culbin.org.uk
From here, Findhorn can look as though it is floating
out to sea. The river has changed its course many times,
most recently in the early 18th century. Unlike their
neighbours at Culbin, Findhorn villagers had earlier
adapted to survive, moving their settlement to its
current river mouth home, from an earlier site now
under the sea.