Posts for June, 2025

An opportunity for local S1-S3s (for the 2024-25 year) interested in art, creativity and this amazing landscape.

Landscape Creatives is an opportunity for local young people to explore art and creativity through different landscapes, habitats and species. Based at Badaguish Outdoor Centre and working outdoors as much as possible through a series of workshops, we’ll create and reflect on the wellbeing and positive futures of landscapes we’re all part of.

Free to attend and no special skills required, just a keen interest in exploring and learning about nature in creative ways, including choreography, film-making and drawing.

We are asking young people interested in taking part to complete a short expression of interest form, available on our website: https://bit.ly/LandscapeCreatives

Deadline for expressions of interest: Wednesday 25th June 2025.

Join us for a fun, informative and no doubt, eye-opening day. Tayside Mountain Rescue team will be present to demonstrate their specialist equipment, answer questions, and showcase their vehicles, drone, and possibly one of their working dogs. Their much-loved mascot, Hamish, will also be joining us on the day.

Takings from ticket sales into Blair Castle & Gardens on the 6th September 2025 will be donated to Tayside Mountain Rescue. The money will go directly to support the vital work they do across our region.

Charity Day entrance is included with your Gardens and Grounds ticket.

About Tayside Mountain Rescue
Tayside Mountain Rescue is a volunteer run charity that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. No-one gets paid and they rely entirely on funding to procure the tools and equipment necessary to rescue people and animals from our local mountains and hills. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you require rescue, they will be there, giving up their own time and expertise to help save you. We’re proud to support an organisation that plays such a crucial role in keeping people safe in our region.

Image credit Paul Booth

Returning for 2025 is our popular Bivvy Trek. We will once again be returning to Ben Macdui in what will be a unique experience on the UK’s second highest mountain.

This trek will start at 6pm (1800hrs) from the Cairngorm Mountain upper car park. This is slightly later than our usual treks with the idea we will reach the summit of Ben Macdui just before midnight, able to enjoy the late light of midsummer from the comfort of our bivvy bags. The following day we will have a relaxed morning with a cooked breakfast prepared by your guide, with a return journey via Loch Avon and a second Munro summit of Cairn Gorm.

A bivy adventure for us is all about feeling connected to the environment you wish to be in. Tents are great and offer a lot of comfort but once you close the doors you miss that immersive experience with what’s going on outside. Bivvying also avoids many of the issues surrounding pitching a tent, for example unsuitable ground or finding a large enough area to accommodate a group. You literally find the perfect spot, lay yourself down, watch the sunset or simply open your eyes throughout the night to gaze up at the sky.

Provided on this trek is a lightweight Bivvy (348 grams), cooking equipment, hot drinks and breakfast. We recommend you have a meal before setting off. Your guide will also provide and carry all safety gear including a large tarp for the group to sleep under if the weather is wet. All other equipment is to be provided by the client including sleeping bag and mat. This is a great introduction to minimalist wild-camping.

Come and see / try heritage crafts in action. There will be demos across the site of traditional skills including rope making, spinning & weaving, waulking the cloth, tradition games and lots more!! Don’t miss the coracles on the Sawmill Pond and visit the Smiddy to see the Blacksmith in action.

No need to book just drop in and enjoy! There will be a full list of demos for each day available at reception. Activities 11am—1.00pm and 2.00—4.00pm each day. (Activities may differ on different dates.)

Our woolly celebration is back! Come and see spinning, weaving, natural dyeing & waulking the cloth. Have a go at knitting, crochet and other textile crafts. No need to book, just come along and enjoy the event!

Step back in time to 1745 as word spreads through the Highlands that Prince Charles Edward Stuart has raised his standard! Can Captain Fletcher’s patrol of redcoat soldiers make it to the safety of the nearby barracks before the Jacobites raise enough strength to stop them? Come and enjoy this weekend of living history – brought to the museum by the Alan Breck’s Volunteer Regiment. Programme of events is the same on both days, no need to book, just come along and join in the fun.

Come along and enjoy our annual Outlander Day! You can enjoy a programme of talks/demos including Andy the Highlander and Sarah Fraser discussing Andy’s book ‘Loch’s & Legends’, Marion from our Township team on 17 century dyeing and weaving, and a demonstration by the Badenoch Waulking Group.
Why not dress up and join in our costume competition? Spend time exploring our 1700s Township and meet the Inverness Outlanders Group. Hope to see you there!

EXPLORE WALKING HOLIDAYS IN SCOTLAND: WALK ON THE WILD SIDE IN THE CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK

When you explore walking holidays in Scotland with a focus on wildlife encounters, you’ll find this trip on your radar. This trip takes place in the Cairngorms National Park, Britain’s largest National Park.

visit the Strathspey Wildlife Hide managed by Speyside Wildlife
walk on the RSPB Abernethy reserve with the opportunity to see Scottish Crossbill, Crested Tit and even the elusive Capercaillie
keep your eye out for ptarmigan and snow bunting when we head up Cairngorm

Calling all knitters! We have an exciting new event exploring the art of natural dyeing together and learning about Cairngorms Connect along the way.

Discover Cairngorms Connect events are designed to give you an introduction to Cairngorms Connect while experiencing the landscape in different ways, in collaboration with local businesses and organisations.

Join us for an introduction to local plants, how to harvest them sustainably, and how to use them to dye wool.

Under expert guidance from Julie at Black Isle Yarns, we will learn how to use botanicals to safely and naturally dye yarn.We will then take a walk in local woods to talk about the types of plants we can use and how to identify them.

We will also share a light lunch featuring Cairngorms Connect Venison, prepared for us by a local chef.



All participants should wear sturdy shoes and clothing suitable for splashes and walking/working outdoors.

It is important that all people have equal access to Cairngorms Connect events. We are happy to provide for your requirements, wherever possible eg. BSL interpreters, off-road wheelchairs, adapted bikes etc. If you have any accessibility requirements, please get in touch.

We don’t want finance to be a barrier to people attending and so have made some tickets available for free – please take advantage of this if you need to.

A Celebration of the Doors Open Days, Badenoch & Strathspey weekend.
( www.doorsopendays.org.uk/2025-weekends )

We plan to have some stalls and refreshments from 11am to 3pm.