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Ninety seconds on Rogie Falls
Walkers reach the falls in under 10 minutes by the shortest route. The longer loop through the woods needs about half an hour, and most visits, with time on the bridge, last 30 minutes to an hour.
Yes, the falls and the trails are free to walk, but the car park beside the A835 charges for parking. It is run in partnership with The Highland Council, and Forestry and Land Scotland parking passes are not valid there.
Salmon leap the falls each year from July to October, with the most activity in August and September. Autumn is a good season to watch them from the bridge.
No. The path down to the falls has rocky stretches and steep slopes, the viewing platform is up a few steps and cannot be seen over from a wheelchair, and the bridge ends in a narrow, sharp set of steps.
Rogie Falls is around a 40-minute drive from Inverness along the A835. The signposted car park sits beside the road about 3 km west of Contin. Visitors without a car of their own are best off hiring one.
Five people at most may be on the bridge at any one time. After a period of repair it reopened in 2023, and visitors can again cross it or watch the falls from it.
In late summer and autumn, stand on the bridge over the Black Water and watch wild salmon hurl themselves at a waterfall that crashes down in several tiers.
Rogie Falls is a run of waterfalls on the Black Water, known in Gaelic as Eas Rothagaidh. The river has carved a deep valley here, and the water drops over several levels, with many separate streams crashing onto the rocks below.
A suspension bridge spans the whole gorge and gives a full view of the falls. Look left from it to see the salmon ladder, built so that fish can reach the top of the falls when the water is low.
The salmon return from the sea at the Cromarty Firth and run up the river to spawn. At the falls they try to jump the main drop, though their chances of making it are slim.
Before the bridge, a stone viewing platform faces the falls, though trees growing from the side of the gorge partly block the view. A panel there describes the life cycle of the salmon in the river.
The falls have drawn visitors for hundreds of years and were very popular in Victorian times. In the woods around them, a lucky visitor may spot a pine marten.
The main path into the forest leaves to the left of the information boards in the car park. The shortest route runs straight to the falls and the bridge, and you come back the same way.
For a longer walk, follow the woodland trail uphill to a lookout called Raven's Crag, where the falls first come into view, then carry on down to the bridge.
Cross over, watch the salmon, then return across the bridge and turn right along the river. The path loops back through the forest to the car park.
Corrieshalloch Gorge, near the junction of the A835 and A832 at Braemore, has a Victorian suspension footbridge of its own, and it makes a good next stop on the road towards Ullapool.
Have a way to pay before you leave the car, because parking here is charged; the machine takes contactless, and Blue Badge holders park free.
Keep dogs under control, especially near the river. For a meal afterwards, the nearest food is in Contin and Tarvie, with more choice in Strathpeffer and Dingwall.
The bridge wobbles enough to blur a long exposure. Photograph from it in sunshine or in the evening, when fewer walkers are crossing.
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