Lossie

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Step back in time at Lossie

This forest stretches from Lossiemouth towards Kingston at the mouth of the River Spey. Hidden amongst the trees are the defences designed to keep Britain safe in World War II: pillboxes, a six-inch gun emplacement, and hundreds of concrete anti-tank cubes. This well-preserved stretch of the defence lines that stretched along the east coast has been protected by the maturing forest.

Notices

• Tree felling work will be taking place in Lossie Forest between mid-December and the end of March 2019, affecting access to various areas as work progresses.  Please obey all signs while the work is taking place.

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Finding the defences

There are many forest tracks from the car park towards the beach, where you’ll find most of the defences. The best examples are close to the fishing station, marked on the current Ordnance Survey map. Please remember that historic sites should be treated with care and respect.

Find all life’s essentials

You can find refreshments, shops and public toilets at nearby Lossiemouth and Elgin.

Walking trails

Cycling trails

Mountain biking trails

Take your own path

There are no waymarked trails here but walkers, horse-riders and cyclists are welcome to explore the many tracks through the woods and out onto the shore.

Preparing for invasion...

In 1940, Britain was under threat of German invasion. Defences were built along any coastline where the enemy could land easily. In Moray, the line of defences ran between Cullen Bay and Findhorn Bay, through today's Lossie and Roseisle Forests.

Protected by the trees at Lossie, a whole range of defences have survived, including concrete anti-tank blocks, pillboxes and, at the edge of the forest, the ruins of a Coastal Battery. There’s even the concrete foundations of a military camp, where the soldiers who built and manned the defences lived. Have a look at our Forest Heritage pages for more about Lossie’s wartime history.

Contact: Moray and Aberdeenshire Forest District

Address: Portsoy Road, Huntly

Postcode: AB54 4SJ

Telephone: 0300 067 6200

Email: morayaberdeenshire@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

How to get here

Take the B9103, which links Lossiemouth with the A96. The small car park lies just off this road, across the canal opposite Inchbroom Farm.

You can also reach the forest on foot along the beach from Lossiemouth or from Kingston’s Lein car park.

The car park is at grid reference NJ 258 670.

Using SatNav?

IV31 6RU is the nearest postcode.

Nearby places

Find more coastal defences at nearby Roseisle and at Culbin. These forests are also great places for a walk or cycle, with sandy beaches, woodland trails, toilets and wildlife watching.

Discover more about the area’s earlier history at Quarrelwood, a hilltop woodland with stunning views over Elgin and the Moray Firth. Choose trails that follow in the footsteps of our Stone Age ancestors, or creatures even older than the dinosaurs!

If you get bitten by the bug of exploring Moray’s wartime coastal defences, you can find out more about the defences at Lossie, Roseisle and Culbin.

There are plenty of other wonderful forests to discover in Moray: they’re all described in our guide.