The Soldier’s Leap is a narrow point in the gorge of the River Garry in the Pass of Killiecrankie, five kilometres north of Pitlochry, where the river is compressed between two rock walls about five and a half metres apart.
The story attached to it is the reason it has a name.
On 27 July 1689, the first battle of the Jacobite risings was fought above the pass.
A Jacobite force under John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee — “Bonnie Dundee” — held the high ground. A government army under General Hugh Mackay, roughly twice the size, came up through the pass.
The Jacobites waited until the evening sun was out of their eyes and then came down the hill in a Highland charge. Mackay’s men had muskets with plug bayonets, which had to be jammed into the barrel after firing — so a soldier could fire or fight with the bayonet, but not both. They got off one volley, and the Highlanders were among them before the bayonets were fixed.
The government army broke in about three minutes. Around 2,000 of Mackay’s men were killed. It was one of the most complete victories in British military history.
It also cost the Jacobites around 800 men, and it killed Dundee himself — shot as he led the charge. Without him the rising lost its only competent commander and collapsed within a year.
In the rout, a government soldier named Donald MacBean was pursued down to the river.
The gorge at that point is a chasm with a rock on each side. He jumped it — about eighteen feet, or five and a half metres, over fast water in a rocky gap — and got away.
He later wrote an account of it, which is why the story survives with a name attached rather than as folklore.
Standing at the rock and looking across, the jump is unquestionably possible and equally unquestionably terrifying. Nobody who sees it doubts that a man being chased could do it, or that he would not have tried otherwise.
The National Trust for Scotland runs the Killiecrankie site, with a visitor centre and café at the top of the gorge.
The Soldier’s Leap is reached by a path down from the car park, and it is a short walk — minutes rather than a hike.
It is steep and can be very slippery, with steps and a substantial descent, and it needs proper footwear. It is not suitable for wheelchairs. The café terrace above provides a good vantage point over the gorge for anyone who cannot get down.
The battlefield itself is above the pass, on farmland, and the visitor centre interprets it.
Longer walks run down the gorge to the Linn of Tummel and on to Pitlochry — about eight kilometres, one of the best walks in Perthshire — and there is a bungee jump operating from the Garry Bridge downstream, which is a distinctly modern addition to the theme.
Worth being straight about: the National Trust for Scotland car park is charged (free to members), and if all you do is walk five minutes down to look at a rock in a river, that is a lot for what you get. Visitors have said so.
The way to make it worth it is to walk — down the gorge to the Linn of Tummel, or up to the battlefield — and to use the café. As a five-minute stop it is expensive; as the start of a half-day it is fine.
Site free; parking charged, free to NTS members.
Time: twenty minutes for the leap; half a day for the gorge walk.
Facilities: visitor centre, café — well liked, with a good view — toilets.
Access: the path down is steep, stepped and slippery. The café and viewpoint above are accessible.
Getting there: off the A9 at Killiecrankie, five minutes from Pitlochry. Killiecrankie is also a stop on local bus routes.
The Battle of Killiecrankie, 27 July 1689 — a Jacobite victory over a government army that broke in minutes. Viscount Dundee was killed leading the charge.
Donald MacBean, a government soldier fleeing the rout, who jumped about five and a half metres across the Garry gorge and later wrote an account of it.
No — minutes from the car park, but the path is steep, stepped and slippery.
The site is free; the car park is charged, and free to National Trust for Scotland members.
As a five-minute stop, it is expensive. Combined with the gorge walk to the Linn of Tummel or the battlefield, it is one of the best half-days near Pitlochry.