Any trip away from the business and sheer mayhem of everyday life is worth it, but there are some places you head to that leave a mark in a way that other places just can’t. Having recently spent five days in the north west Highlands, I can attest to the fact that a visit to The Fisherfield Forest should be on everybody’s bucket list. It’s wild, rugged and utterly beautiful in so many ways. Dubbed ‘ The Great Wilderness’ by many, the area does indeed boast some of the most empty and remote terrain in all of Britain. but I’m already planning to return during my next holiday period, such was its impact on me.

Where Is The Fisherfield Forest?

Let’s start by getting one thing out of the way first. The Fisherfield Forest isn’t actually a forest. A few small copses of trees is as much woodland as you are likely to find. So what earned it this inacurate name? A bit of research online soon informed me that the main reason is to do with medieval hunting laws. Areas used exclusively for hunting were called forests despite there being few trees. Why they didn’t just call them moors I have no idea. Another reason is that like much of the UK, the area would have once been covered in vast swathes of woodland, before it was felled to make way for agriculture. Sad but true.

Now that we’ve got the place name out of the way, let’s now look at where The Fisherfield Forest is. The first obvious thing to say is that it’s a long way from anywhere, unless you happen to live in Inverness or the northern tip of Scotland. Even with a stop-over in Stirling, it still took me four hours to reach the place from The Central Belt. Be prepared for a long drive, but one that will have seemed more than worth it by the end.

The Fisherfield Forest is located in Wester Ross, a truly stunning part of The Highlands that also happen to be one of the most sparsely populated. Drive on any of the A roads in the region and you’ll realise just how quiet it is. I have read that the population density in this corner of Scotland is one of the lowest in all of Europe and I can well imagine that is true after visiting.

The map above shows how several of the A roads encircle the huge 310 square miles of roadless terrain that makes up The Fisherfield area. These do provide several options when it comes to how you’ll access the mountains. Some folk start close to the village of Kinlochewe, while others make a westerly approach from the small coastal settlement of Poolewe. The most popular option though when people come to visit The Fisherfield Forest is from Corrie Hallie. A small parking bay is available here and it offers the easiest access to An Teallach and Shenavall Bothy. Some folk may disagree with my claim here, but virtually every person I spoke to during my visit had started there.

Be warned that the parking area at Corrie Hallie isn’t very big and may well be full during busier periods of the year.

Assuming your car has made it all this way and you’ve found somewhere safe to leave it, let’s now get to the main part of this article and the reason you’re here in the first place. What are the biggest reasons why you should visit The Fisherfield Forest?

The Scenery

This seems like a very obvious one when discussing Highland Scotland, but The Fisherfield Forest offers some of the most dramatic views you’ll find on these shores. I was lucky enough to be blessed with incredible weather for the entire trip, but I have no doubt that the area is still utterly beautiful even with more typical grey skies and rain. Winter must make things spectacular too with the white blanket higher up on the rugged summits contrasting against the dark rock found in the region.

Walking in The Fisherfield Forest offers an almost endless number of incredible views and indeed I found myself regularly pausing just to to admire where I was and to put my camera through its paces once again. The really amazing thing about this area though is that it offers some of the most iconic mountains and lochs in all of Scotland.

An Teallach is often voted as the finest mountain in the whole of the UK and the best thing is that this sits right at the northern periphery of The Fisherfield Forest. Just like Skiddaw and Blencathra act as excellent guardians to the rest of the northern Lake District Fells, so An Teallach offers incredible first views when entering from Corrie Hallie. Click here to read about just how memorable a day out on An Teallach is.

An Teallach is an impressive sight even from many miles away. You can’t help but marvel at its many craggy summits.

Admiring the craggy lower slopes of An Teallach from the south.

Shenevall Bothy must have one of the most iconic views in all of Scotland. It is every bit as spectacular in person as you’ve seen in photos. Click here to read about what it is like to stay there.

The contrasting blues in this loch showed just how deep the bottom plunged below the surface.

There was such a great sense of vast scale and solitude on the rocky shore of Lochan Fada.

The Fisherfield Six

An Teallach may be the most famous and iconic mountain in the area, but there are many other summits worth tackling. Six other Munros in The Fisherfield Forest make up a challenging circuit, which has become known as The Fisherfield Six. While I summited many of the summits over three days, many walkers embrace the challenge of completed all of them in a singe day.

I was fortunate enough to meet several people completing this route and they all had one thing in common- they were knackered! One Scottish chap told me it was the hardest thing he’d ever done, while a young Geordie chap I met told me he couldn’t feel his legs anymore due to exhaustion and was just longing for it to be finished.

However fit you are, you can expect to be on your feet from anywhere between twelve and eighteen hours. It might only be eighteen miles in length, but the terrain underfoot is very challenging at times and you’ll have gained over two thousand metres of elevation by the end. Click here to read more about what you can expect on your day out.

A’ Mhaighdean

This is one of The Fisherfield Six, but I felt the need to include it in its own section just because it is a highlight of the area in its own right. It has a couple of claims to fame. The first one is the fact that it’s often considered to be the remotest Munro in all of Scotland. Take a look at it on a map and you’ll see how far roads are in any direction. Virtually every person that visits its summit does it over the space of a couple of days, either camping on its summit or somewhere nearby.

It is also famous for offering on of the first views from any summit in the UK. That is a bold claim to make and I wasn’t sure how accurate this would be when I lugged my own camping gear up there for the night. Take a look at the photos below to see what I saw and guess what my opinion about that claim is now. What a spot!

Despite being the so remote, I sadly didn’t have the summit to myself. I guess the fine I was blessed with will encourage committed adventurers to make the effort to reach it. One chap called Stu, who looked to be in his fifties, was already there just taking in the incredible views when I arrived. We chatted briefly and then just stood in silence to enjoy the majesty of where we were. A few moments later we were joined by a lone female camper called Sarah. She was a right hoot and it wasn’t long before we’d discussed where we’d all pitch our tents so that her snoring didn’t keep us two chaps awake!

We all enjoyed our meals at different times, but settled behind a rock just before the sunset so that we could enjoy the natural spectacle without being chilled too much by the ever increasing wind. Poor Stu however still felt the chill and it turned out he’d underestimated how cold a night it would be up here. I lent him one of my fleeces which he was thankful for. It seemed to help when he said how well he’d slept overnight.

Sarah it turns out was not only slightly bonkers but also quite famous. She spoke of a book she had written, which focussed on her love of the outdoors and how it had saved her during several hardships she’d experienced in her life. I have since ordered the book and it was every bit as enjoyable to read as I’d hoped it would be. Click here to find out more and maybe order a copy yourself.

The Mountain Lochans

Scotland is of course littered with hundreds of lochs of various sizes with several being as deep as any of the ocean and sea that surrounds the UK. Loch Morar near Mallaig is the deepest at around three hundred and ten metres deep. That’s as deep as the Shard in London is tall. Very impressive if slightly scary if you ask me. Would you fancy swimming in a body of water knowing there was a thousand feet of cold inky water beneath you?

What I loved about the my visit to The Fisherfield Forest was the size and scale of many of the lochans. Loch Maree to the south of the area is surely the most spectacular. Not only does it have many of the famous mountains of Fisherfield and Torridon as backdrops, but it also has some of the most untouched habitats in Britain on its many islands.

The incredible view down to Loch Maree and its many islands from the summit of Slioch. Click here to read about what this mighty Munro is like to climb.

Lochan Fada is another incredible body of water, which is made all the more special because of its isolation. Reaching the shore of this loch takes some commitment as it is many kilometres from the nearest road. Navigating either shoreline is a challenge just because there are no paths whatsoever. Being ever ambitious, I decided to tackle the northern shore after my camp on A Mhaighdean the previous night. The tussocky grass and bog was relentless and I have no doubt it would truly grim on a cold day. With temperatures around twenty four degrees on the day I did though, it was actually a relief to have wet feet. The many burns trickling down from the nearby mountains were handy spots to refill bottles and splash my face too.

Is there anything better than drinking ice cold water from a mountain spring on a hot day?

Looking down the length of Lochan Fada from above. What a view!

It was a bonus to see a sea plane land on Lochan Fada and have a chat with the pilot and his passenger.

Another loch I was blown away by was the hard to pronounce Lochan Feith Mhic- illean. The mountainous backdrop and isolated location were incredible, however it was the golden beach on its northern shore that was most impressive. It would certainly make a wonderful wild camping spot.

Lochan an Nid is an incredible spot too and also happens to be located many kilometres from the nearest road. Mountains loom tall on both sides of it with several flat areas to pitch your tent.