Logierait: The Two Rivers, the Canyoning and Getting There from Pitlochry

Logierait is a village and parish in Atholl, at the point where the River Tummel runs into the River Tay. it 500 metres (1/4 mile) west of the A9 in Perth and Kinross; the straight-line distance from Pitlochry is 7.2 km, and.

You come for the water. The rafting and canyoning operators who work this part of the Tummel are based here, and most of the other businesses listed under the village name — a café, a coffee shop in the old inn, lodges and guest houses — exist to feed and sleep the people who came for the rivers. Several carry Ballinluig addresses rather than Logierait ones, and the listings treat the two as one cluster.

Behind that is a much older village. Above the houses is the site of a major early royal castle, still marked by a large ditch; the church holds two Pictish cross-slabs; and an ash tree nearby once served as the district’s gallows. None of it appears in the review listings: every rating attached to this place belongs to a river trip, a kitchen or a bed.

Canyoning, rafting and the outfitters on the river

Nae Limits, on General Wade’s Military Road at Ballinluig, is the largest operation here by review count: 4.8 from 792 Google reviews. A visitor in August 2026 wrote of doing “the upper Bruar canyoning followed by the river tummel rafting” over two weekends, and made the point that matters to anyone hesitating: “I’m not the strongest swimmer but at no point did i feel this affected my experience.” The Canyoning Company is listed at the same road running training courses, on a single Google review.

The traffic those trips generate is the practical warning. Nae Limits Cafe, 4.7 from 257 Google reviews, shares the site, and a visitor in June 2026 arrived at the wrong moment: “There is one female and 1 male toilet”, and “when we arrived hordes of schoolchildren were off on their activities on the river.They were all stood waiting for toilet so 25 in line before us.” The same reviewer called it a “Lovely space on A9 to stop for coffee”, while marking the hot chocolate lukewarm and a scone dry. A visitor in July 2026 went for the barbecue night and split the difference: “cakes were a bit stale but bbq was amazing and great quality”. Ballinluig BBQ Nights is listed separately at the same address, 5.0 from 61 Google reviews.

The inn, the lodges and the beds around them

1717 Coffee Shop, in The Logierait Inn, carries 4.8 from 248 Google reviews, and it is not open all week. A visitor in June 2026 ended an enthusiastic review with “Shame it’s only open weekends”, so check before making the trip for it alone; the same reviewer noted it is “Very dog friendly & dogs get sausage too”. Another that month mentioned an “Outside sitting area available and large car park”.

Logierait Lodges, 4.5 from 325 Google reviews, is the self-catering site near the Tay, and the one place here where reviewers openly disagree. A visitor in June 2026 listed a “Small honesty shop and laundrette on site. Peaceful location. Nice walks.” Another, the same month, gave three stars and started outside the door: “1st impressions outside of lodge dirty with cobwebs, duck muck etc. inside was ok, was like stepping into the 90’s.” That reviewer also objected to the changeover arrangements and to being asked to strip the beds before leaving.

For bed and breakfast there is Cuil An Daraich Guest House at 4.8 from 166 Google reviews, and Cuil-an-Duin Country House at 4.7 from 13, too few to weigh. Ballintaggart Farm shows the highest rating in the cluster, 4.9 from 115, though its address puts it at Grandtully rather than in the village.

A royal fort, two Pictish stones and the hanging tree

The name is the oldest thing here. Logierait comes from the Gaelic Lagan Ràit, meaning the little hollow of the earth-walled fort, though in more recent Gaelic it is simply Lagan. The fort is the site above the village: a major early royal castle, perhaps the rath of the place-name, still marked by a large ditch, and probably the seat of the mormaers of Atholl. The ancient promontory fort is now marked by a huge Celtic cross, a monument to the 6th Duke of Atholl (1814–1864). The Dule Tree of the district, an ancient ash, stood nearby, and thieves and murderers were hanged from it.

The church is of early Christian origin, and the evidence is two Pictish cross-slabs: one in the churchyard, discovered in or before 1878, the other identified only in 1989, inside the church. Both are Class II Pictish stones, meaning dressed stones with relief carving. The dedication is to Coeddi, Bishop of Iona in the early 8th century, perhaps its founder. The building standing now is early 19th century and category B listed. The school dates from 1863 and was another of the 6th Duke’s projects, designed by the Edinburgh architects R & R Dickson.

For a village of this size the emigration record is disproportionate. Adam Ferguson, a leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, was born and raised here. So were John McIntosh (1796–1853), a Canadian politician, and Alexander Mackenzie (1822–1892), Canada’s second Prime Minister.

Getting there from Pitlochry

No bus or train between Pitlochry and Logierait appears anywhere in the material behind this page, so plan on driving, cycling or walking, and check locally before relying on a scheduled service.

By road it is the A9 corridor: the village 500 metres (1/4 mile) west of that road, and the cafés on General Wade’s Military Road are close enough that reviewers describe stopping there as an A9 break.

By bike it is a better trip than that suggests. National Cycle Network Route 7 links Aberfeldy and Pitlochry, and a well-known loop leaves Pitlochry on Route 7 towards Logierait, picking up Route 77 — the “Salmon Run”, about 54 miles from Dundee via Perth to Pitlochry — after crossing a well-preserved railway viaduct. A Logierait Viaduct is listed in the village as a tourist attraction, on a single Google review, and nothing in the material confirms it is the same structure that loop crosses.

Hire is in Pitlochry rather than out here: Escape Route on Atholl Road, 0.5 km from the town centre, is named on ScotRail’s own station page as the local cycle-hire operator, with Pitlochry Boating Station 1.1 km out.