The Linn of Tummel is where the River Tummel and the River Garry meet, about three and a half kilometres north-west of Pitlochry, and it is a National Trust for Scotland property of woodland, riverbank and rapids.
Linn is the Scots and Gaelic word for a pool below a fall, and that is what is here: a set of rapids and deep green pools in a rocky reach of river, under old trees.
It used to be the Falls of Tummel — a genuine waterfall.
Then the Tummel–Garry hydro-electric scheme dammed the river in the late 1940s, raising the water level to create Loch Faskally and drowning the fall. What is left is a stretch of fast water and pools rather than a drop, and the name was changed to match.
The salmon leap built beside it in 1910 to help fish past the fall is still visible, and is a good piece of early conservation engineering.
That history is worth knowing, because visitors who arrive expecting a waterfall are sometimes puzzled. What is here is a beautiful stretch of river, not a cataract.
Spectacular trees, which is the thing people most often mention — mature Douglas fir, larch, beech and oak in a designed nineteenth-century landscape, with paths through them.
Red squirrels, dippers, goosanders and woodpeckers.
Bluebells in spring on the woodland floor.
Short circuits from the Coronation Bridge car park round the confluence, about two to three kilometres, taking an hour or so.
The Garry Bridge and the Coronation Bridge — a graceful 1913 footbridge over the Garry — give the crossings that make circuits possible.
Longer routes link south along Loch Faskally into Faskally Wood and on to Pitlochry — about five kilometres each way, and one of the best walks from the town.
North, the paths connect towards the Pass of Killiecrankie and the Soldier’s Leap, giving a substantial day: Pitlochry to Killiecrankie and back along the river, about 15 kilometres.
The pools are used for wild swimming and are, on a hot day, lovely.
The access is the problem. Getting down to the water involves scrambling over rough, steep and slippery rock, and visitors say so plainly. There is no path to the water’s edge and no easy way in or out.
The water is very cold year round, the flow is regulated by the hydro scheme and can change without warning, and there is nobody around. Treat it accordingly.
Free to walk. Parking at the Coronation Bridge / Garry Bridge car parks — the NTS car park is charged, free to members.
Time: an hour for the short circuit; a half day for the longer routes.
Facilities: none on site. Pitlochry is five minutes away by road.
Access: the woodland paths are unsurfaced with roots, slopes and steps, and the riverbank is rough. Not accessible.
Footwear: proper shoes. Wet rock and tree roots.
Faskally Wood and Loch Dunmore are immediately south.
The Pass of Killiecrankie and the Soldier’s Leap are two kilometres north.
Queen’s View, looking west along Loch Tummel to Schiehallion, is fifteen minutes west along the B8019.
Not any more. The Falls of Tummel were drowned when the hydro scheme raised the water level in the late 1940s. What remains is rapids and deep pools.
People do, but the access is over rough and slippery rock with no path to the water, the river is very cold, and the flow is hydro-regulated. Judge it carefully.
The walking is free; the National Trust for Scotland car park is charged and free to members.
About three and a half kilometres, or a five-kilometre walk along Loch Faskally.
A fish pass built in 1910 to help salmon past the original falls, still visible beside the river.