In Rannoch
Kinloch Rannoch
Blacksmith’s Cottage has membership of the MacDonald Rannoch Hotel Leisure Club and visitors have free access to the swimming pool, sauna and gym. There is also a watersports centre where boats can be hired and all sorts of activities enjoyed from abseiling to off-road driving.
Walking
Schiehallion
Rannoch is a great place for unwinding. Lots of low level walks in the forest tracks behind the cottage and going a wee bit higher gives you superb views towards the Ben Alder hills. There are several “Munros” for serious hill-walkers, including the famous mountain Schiehallion. We have loads of maps and ideas for places to explore. Our neighbours Tim and Sandra Winter are happy to give guided walks and are qualified mountaineers. You can get fishing permits in the village for Loch Rannoch and several other nearby lochs. Boats can be hired from Rannoch Hotel.
Further afield
view
Centrally placed, Rannoch is ideal for exploring further in all different directions. 1 ˝ hours drive to the north is Aviemore and the Cairngorm Funicular Railway taking you to 4,000’. A more nostalgic trip would be on the Strathspey Steam Railway. Around 45 minutes drive to the east is Pitlochry with its Festival Theatre, hydro- electric dam and fish ladder and romantic Blair Castle. To the south is Aberfeldy and Castle Menzies, and Kenmore with a fascinating reproduction Crannog [Iron age loch dwelling] on Loch Tay.
A Great Railway Journey
Glenfinnan Viaduct
Eleven miles to the west on dramatic Rannoch Moor is Rannoch Station. A day trip by train to Fort William on the Road to the Isles, and on to the coastal town of Mallaig with views to the Isle of Skye is one of the great railway journeys of the world.
The photo shows the Glenfinnan Viaduct on the Mallaig line, now made even more famous as the route of the Hogwarts Express
Wildlife
siskins
We have lots of wildlife round the cottage.  Siskens, several sorts of tits, chaffinches and even woodpeckers come to the bird nuts.  We have red squirrels in the surrounding trees. Look out of the window early or late and the deer may be grazing on the grass outside. In spring you may see our slow worm, in summer woodcock and house martins, in autumn the redwings come to feed on the rowans.