Forsinard Flows

We're working hard to make our nature reserves safe and ready for our staff, visitors and wildlife. Many have now re-opened in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, although some facilities are not yet available. Some reserves remain closed for now. See our COVID-19 updates page for the latest information (link below).

Address: RSPB Forsinard Flows, Flows Field Centre, Forsinard KW13 6YT

Grid ref: NC891425

See our updates page to see which reserves are open.

Forsinard Flows is part of a vast expanse of blanket bog, sheltered straths and mountains known as the Flow Country. The Flow Country is one of Scotland's most important natural treasures and the RSPB looks after more than 21,000 hectares of it. The RSPB has been working to protect the landscape here for more than 20 years.

Plan your visit

Open at all times.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: Free, but we would encourage visitors to consider either joining the RSPB as a member or leaving a donation.

Children: Free.

Facilities

Visitor centre
Car park
Toilets
Accessible toilets
Baby changing
Refreshments
Picnic area
Guided walks
Viewing point
Nature trails
Educational facilities

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

Our visitor centre is in the former station building at Forsinard on the Wick-Inverness railway line, so simply get off the train at Forsinard. It isn't a request stop and there are regular trains. You can check the times at scotrail.co.uk.

By bus

Due to the remote location of the reserve there is unfortunately no bus or taxi service.

By road

We are on the A897, which is a single-track road with passing places that runs from Helmsdale (South) to Melvich (North). We are 29 miles from Thurso and 94 miles from Inverness.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

It is possible to arrange group visits to the reserve. Please contact the reserve office in advance of your visit to discuss your requirements and we will try our best to accommodate your group. Be aware that it is not always possible to provide a member of staff or volunteer for ad-hoc guided walks.

If your group is an educational, research or volunteer group then please contact the reserve office if you would like to enquire about making use of the accommodation facilities in the Field Centre. These facilities are non-commercial and available to educational, research or volunteer groups only. There are a number of private accommodation providers in the area who cater for other visitors and we would be more than happy to pass on their details.

It is possible to arrange educational visits to the reserve, both for school groups and for other education establishments. Please contact the reserve office in advance of your visit to discuss your requirements and we will try our best to accommodate your group.

The field centre has an education room, field laboratory and bunkroom accommodation available for use by education, research and volunteering groups. If you would like to book these facilities then please contact the reserve office for further details.

11 degrees, Light rain

Contact Forsinard Flows

RSPB Forsinard Flows, Flows Field Centre, Forsinard KW13 6YT
forsinard@rspb.org.uk
01641 571225

What will you see?

Our star species

Dipper

Look along the rocky stream for dippers' weird and wonderful behaviour.

Dunlin

Watch out for breeding-plumaged dunlins with black bellies during spring.

Golden plover

In their breeding plumage, golden plovers look very smart with black undersides and spangled golden backs.

Greenshank

In most parts of the UK, they only stop briefly on their migration, but in this part of Scotland, they stay to breed in the boggier areas.

Hen harrier

Hen harriers can be seen at any time of year at Forsinard.

Nature spectacles

Our blanket bog is one of the world's rarest habitats. It's taken thousands of years for the deep peat to develop and the range of wildlife that lives here is pretty special too. Many of the most important species live out in remote pools and lochs in the heart of the Flow Country including red-throated and black-throated divers, common scoter and otters.

However, it is unlikely that most visitors will see these species. More common around the trails and the main road are golden plover, dunlin, greenshank, hen harrier, skylark and meadow pipits. Lizards lurk along the edge of the boardwalk, swallows have been nesting in the Flows Lookout and dragonflies, frogs and a host of aquatic invertebrates live in the pools. Carnivorous plants such as sundew and butterwort are scattered across the landscape proving that being small does not mean that you don't have attitude!

Golden plovers and native greylag geese arrive on roadside fields from March to July, being joined by dunlins in May and June. From April/May greenshanks, common sandpipers, dippers and teals can be seen along the river with wheatears, stonechats, cuckoos and, if you are lucky, short-eared owls, merlins or hen harriers hunting along the roadsides.

Golden plovers and dunlins fly in off the bogs to feed on the farm fields with greenshanks and common sandpipers, dippers and teals along the river banks. Wheatears, stonechats and, for the keen-eyed, hen harriers, merlins and short-eared owls hunt along the river corridor.

Red deer roar across the dramatic chestnut-coloured deer grass-covered bogs in September/October and on clear days, the blue skies reflected in the bog pools on the trail complement the golden bogs. Sphagnum mosses which have created this landscape are at their most colourful at this time of year with rich clarets, apple greens, browns and yellows studded with lichens and sundews.

This is a good time of year to get close to wild red deer herds or have a chance to see the blue/mountain hare in its white winter coat, and in the snow, you can brush up on identification of animal and bird tracks like red deer, hares and otters.

About Forsinard Flows

Habitat

Blanket bog is a rare type of peatland which only forms in cool places with plenty of rain and that covers the landscape like a blanket. The plants which grow here don’t fully rot away when they die, due to the acidic and wet conditions found here, but build up deep layers of peat. Sphagnum moss is the main peat forming plant in the Flow Country. The Flow Country’s bogs have been growing for more than 10,000 years and the peat is now up to 10 metres deep in some areas.

Peat bogs are an important defence against climate change because the dead plants in the peat contain carbon. As long as the peat remains wet this carbon stays locked up, preventing its release as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Although peatlands cover just 3 per cent of the world’s land area, they hold nearly 30 per cent of all terrestrial carbon.

The Flow Country’s blanket bogs alone store more than three times the amount of carbon found in all of Britain’s woodlands. They are also areas of international importance for biodiversity and play a key role in water regulation and water quality, and pollen preserved within the peat acts as an important record of past environments.

Conservation

The Flow Country is of international importance and after remaining largely untouched for millennia, a government drive to produce more timber in the 1970s and ‘80s led to large areas of deep peat being planted with non-native forestry plantations. This led to drying out of the peat, the release of stored carbon from the peat and the disappearance from some areas of the special wildlife. Other areas have been damaged in the past by drainage for agriculture.

Parts of the Flow Country are now being restored by RSPB Scotland land managers and other organisations. This involves removing the forestry plantations, blocking drainage ditches and allowing the original water levels to return. This prevents the loss of carbon as carbon dioxide and encourages Sphagnum mosses to return and create new peat. Wading birds like golden plover, dunlin and greenshank can also return once the habitat conditions are right.

This restoration has been taking place for more than 20 years on the reserve and careful monitoring and trialling of techniques has resulted in pioneering restoration practices. The lessons learned here are now being applied in other areas. There has been a growing understanding of the importance of bogs and researchers from universities and institutions from across the UK are now working in the Flow Country studying the impacts of the restoration work and the importance of the blanket bogs as a carbon store.

Flows to the Future is an ambitious partnership project, led by RSPB Scotland, which is restoring areas of blanket bog in the heart of the Flow Country that have been damaged by forestry planting and drainage. It will also involve and connect people everywhere with this precious habitat, delivering real economic benefits for one of the least densely populated areas in Scotland.

The project is being delivered by the Peatlands Partnership and funded by a range of organisations including Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and SNH Peatland Action. A full list of funders and further information can be found at theflowcountry.org.uk.

Partners

Flows to the Future is an ambitious project which is restoring areas of blanket bog in the heart of the Flow Country that have been damaged by non-native forestry planting. It is also promoting and developing our knowledge about the role of peat and carbon storage, and involving and connecting people everywhere with this precious habitat, delivering real economic benefits for one of the least densely populated areas in Scotland.

The project is being delivered by the Peatlands Partnership with the lead partner being RSPB (Scotland) and is grateful to our funders and supporters without whom this landscape scale restoration process would not be possible.

To find out more, please visit the Flows to the Future website.

Site information

Visitors are welcome at all times, however if you are looking to see breeding peatland birds the best time of year to visit is April-June. If insects and peatland plants are your thing then June-August is the best time for your visit. Over the winter the number of species on the reserve declines greatly (most of our species come here to breed in the summer), but you can still enjoy the vast landscape views from the tower looking over the peatlands, and if you're lucky see some of the herds of red deer that come down close to the road.

We would ask that visitors with campervans do not park overnight in the car park.

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Activities and events

Activities for children and families

The Dubh Lochain Trail is the best way for families to explore the reserve and to learn more about what makes blanket bogs special. Follow the boardwalk up to the Flows Lookout and then venture off onto the flagstone discovery trail that snakes through the pool systems. Our recently refurbished visitor centre has interactive displays and games as well as three different videos to help introduce adults and children to this internationally important habitat.

Leisure activities

Lots of different people undertake residential volunteering on the reserve each year, learning new skills and enjoying new experiences, meeting new people and discovering more about this important habitat and the wildlife which calls it home. Whether you are interested in residential volunteering or joining one of our working holidays there are lots of different ways to get involved in Giving Nature a Home!

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