John O'Groats Trail: Two major burn crossings on radar for 2024
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The manager of the John O’Groats Trail hopes that two major obstacles on the long-distance route can be overcome in 2024.
Ken McElroy was reflecting after a busy year for the walking route that stretches from Inverness to John O’Groats. Last year saw 12 bridges and walkways built, as well as 22 new stiles along the 147-mile trail.
“I think it’s been our busiest year so far in terms of trail infrastructure and what we’ve managed to achieve, so I’m very pleased,” he said.
A new guidebook was also published early last year, and Mr McElroy made an appearance on BBC TV’s Landward programme in the spring to highlight the trail.
However, he said it was a continuing struggle to fundraise for small-scale projects to benefit walking, which he said was a relatively cheap way to help boost people’s mental and physical health.
There are two significant burns which need to be crossed, and Mr McElroy is hoping to focus on these in the next 12 months.
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He said: “Walking is slow tourism but it’s the kind of tourism that is more beneficial for everyone and these are the kind of projects that people should be more supportive of.
“With the John O’Groats Trail, it’s very difficult to have any criticism of it – unless you’re a landowner perhaps with a particular issue – but it’s the tourism that benefits the most people with very few drawbacks.
“We’re trying to bridge a couple of major obstacles at Loth Burn in Sutherland and then Wester Burn in Caithness, and if we could manage to get those two that would be a real feather in our caps. We’re working on bridging Loth Burn but that entirely hinges on funding applications.”
Mr McElroy also praised the volunteers who help with maintaining the trail, particularly the 25 trail wardens who keep an eye on various sections of the route in the far north.
“We’ve got about 25 wardens covering more than three-quarters of the trail. Most of the trail doesn’t really need a warden, it’s just to the north in Sutherland and Caithness and those areas are largely covered.
“We’re really grateful to have their added support and their added ‘intel’, if you like, on the condition and the status of the trail.”
He added that figures from the counters at Berriedale and Wick showed a mixed picture of the number of users, with 14,000 recorded at Wick between June and October and around 600 at Berriedale in the same time.
“These are two different places because Wick is an urban centre that is walked quite frequently by a high population, but what we can tell is that people enjoy walking along the coast wherever they are,” Mr McElroy said.
“They get very high value from it, because it’s got the scenery, it’s got the mental and physical benefits, it’s got the blue health benefits of being by the coast. I think there’s real vigour in the project thanks to the people who are walking the trail.
“It’s been a busy year but there’s always so much to be done at all times before we can classify it as a world-class trail. I think it already is a world-class trail but we know it can be better.”
