Contin

Go play!

Cycling or walking through the forest from Contin to Rogie Falls is very popular but you can also make up your own mountain bike route using the network of forest roads and informal paths. You'll come across slippery tree roots, lumpy rocks and some lovely twisting singletrack.

Go wild in winter

If you delight in attempting the impossible on a bike then the Strathpuffer 24 is right up your street. It's probably the only 24 hour mountain bike endurance event where you'll need studs for your tyres and a spare headtorch. Why? Because it takes place in January, when there are fewer than 8 hours of daylight and the trails can be thick with snow.

A forest full of food

Contin is on the edge of Torrachilty forest, a very large woodland which stretches from Strathpeffer to Rogie Falls and beyond. The forest has been planted with spruce and pine, and also contains some beautiful pockets of native ash, oak and birch woodland, as well as mature exotic conifers, including Californian redwood.

It's great habitat for red squirrels and pine martens, which do best in extensive areas of native and coniferous woodland, and for the rarely seen Scottish wildcat. If you're very lucky you might spot an otter swimming in one of the forest lochans or an osprey circling above. In summer the forest floor is full of food for animals and human foragers - watch out for wild blaeberries and raspberries, as well as chanterelle mushrooms in autumn.

Contact: North Highland Forest District

Address: The Links, Golspie Business Park, Golspie

Postcode: KW10 6UB

Telephone: 0300 067 6850

Email: northhighland@forestry.gsi.gov.uk