Quarry Wood

Orienteering

There is a permanent orienteering course in the wood, which starts from the Leggat car park. Moravian Orienteers have a map of the course.

A story of wood and stone

Quarry Wood commands a hilltop position overlooking Elgin, the Moray Firth and the surrounding countryside. There are old quarries scattered throughout the wood: you’ll recognise the attractive yellow sandstone used in many local buildings. Some very rare fish and reptile fossils were found at the quarry on Cutties Hillock, including Elginia mirabilis, a spiny-headed reptile about the size of a Labrador dog that roamed here long before the dinosaurs. You can see some of these fossils at Elgin Museum.

Quarry Wood lies on the site of an ancient oakwood, now also planted with beeches and conifers. Its name may come from the ‘quarrel’ or bolt fired by crossbows that were used when it was a hunting forest in medieval times. People were living here long before then too – look out for the banks and ditches of a 4,000 year old henge (enclosure) near the top of the hill.

Wildlife in the wood

The mix of broadleaf and conifer woods here provides good habitats for a great variety of small mammals. Woodmice feed on the beech mast while red squirrels extract seeds from the pinecones.

Many woodland birds make their home here too, including coal tits, siskins and wrens, and listen out for the distinctive drumming of the greater spotted woodpecker.

A protected landscape

Cutties Hillock and the complex of sandstone quarries are protected due to their geological status and the very rare reptile fossils found there. They have been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Contact: Moray and Aberdeenshire Forest District

Address: Portsoy Road, Huntly

Postcode: AB54 4SJ

Telephone: 0300 067 6200

Email: morayaberdeenshire@forestry.gsi.gov.uk