The Hermitage

The Dukes of Atholl laid out this stretch of the Braan in the 1750s as a designed landscape, and its centrepiece is Ossian's Hall, a small classical folly built in 1757 on a rock directly above the Black Linn Falls; guests were led into a plain room and then a door or shutter was opened onto the fall crashing immediately below, an eighteenth-century sensory trick. The original interior had mirrors multiplying the water. Below is Ossian's Cave, a rough stone chamber. The surrounding woodland was planted with Douglas fir from seed sent by David Douglas and holds some of the tallest trees in Britain, several over sixty metres. Salmon leap the falls in autumn. The Braan runs peat-brown and the gorge is loud after rain.

What you actually see

• Ossian's Hall - a 1757 folly opening directly onto a waterfall.
• Black Linn Falls - the Braan dropping in a gorge beneath the folly.
• The Douglas firs - among the tallest trees in Britain, over sixty metres.
• Ossian's Cave - a rough stone chamber further along the path.

When to go

April to October; autumn for salmon leaping the falls and for colour in the woods. The falls are strongest after rain. The path is short and manageable in most weather.

Honest expectations

The walk is short, about a kilometre to the folly, and the visit is brief. Parking is charged and the car park fills on summer weekends. The A9 runs close and traffic noise carries in places. The folly interior is bare, its mirrors long gone.

Nearby

Dunkeld and its cathedral are a short drive; Pitlochry lies north.