Visiting Plodda Falls, Glen Affric

Plodda Falls is a stunning natural wonder located in the Scottish Highlands, just a few miles from the village of Tomich, and it’s one of those places it’s almost impossible to do justice to in a photo, which is why there aren’t nearly as many in this post as I’d have liked: sorry about that.

The other reason for the lack of photos, meanwhile, is currently sleeping peacefully in his cot, totally oblivious to the fact that his mother’s sitting in the room next door going, “Wait: did we REALLY visit Scotland’s highest waterfall, but only take two photos of it, both of which are a bit blurry, really?” And yes: yes, it would appear we DID do that. It turns out that taking photos with a toddler on your back is pretty hard, actually, and, for most of our trip to Plodda Falls, Terry literally had a toddler on his back:

The walk to the falls from the carpark is only about ten minutes or so, thankfully, and, before you reach the falls themselves, you first of all reach the wooden viewing platform, which you can see me running along in the image at the top of the page. From this structure, you can see the top of the waterfall below you, and the water tumbling down the rocks, but it’s only really when you leave the platform behind that you get a real sense of the scale of the thing:

The wooden platform you can see peeking over the top of the falls is the same wooden platform I’m walking down in the photo underneath it. Terry, who’s scared of heights, found the rickety platform just a little bit hair-raising: I, meanwhile, had no problem being on it, but I have to admit that, once we got to the bottom of the falls and looked back up at it, I was a bit like, “THAT’S what I was just standing on?!”

Again, I really wish we’d managed to capture the waterfall itself here, but it’s so high that it was actually really hard to get it all into the frame, and so loud that Max was absolutely terrified of it. This is something we hadn’t anticipated at all when we set out to walk to it (Although, given that he bursts into tears every time I try to use a hand-drier in a public bathroom with him present, I probably should have…), and is the main reason for our woeful attempts at photographing it.

Plodda Falls Walk

The area around Plodda Falls is perfect for nature lovers and hikers, with a network of well-maintained trails that wind through the ancient Caledonian pine forests. You can follow the trails to reach several viewpoints that offer stunning views of the falls and the surrounding landscape.

One of the most popular trails is the Plodda Falls Trail, which is a circular route that takes around an hour to complete. The trail is well-marked and suitable for all levels of hikers, although be warned, it’s NOT particuarly suitable for pushchairs, which is why Terry ended up with Max on his back.

Another popular trail is the Glen Affric Trail, which is a longer and more challenging hike that takes around 4-5 hours to complete. This trail takes visitors through some of the most beautiful and remote parts of the Scottish Highlands and offers breathtaking views of the surrounding hills and forests.

Other things to do in the Highlands:

• Clava Cairns
• Eilean Donan Castle
• Urquhart Castle