Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is advising climbers and hillwalkers coming to the Ballachulish area to check their plans against some access restrictions arising from delays to planned felling works at Gleann a Caolais and additional forestry operations taking place soon at Coire Giùbhasachan.

Originally scheduled for 27th July and 6th August 2021, the Gleann a Caolais operations will now take place from 17 August until 1 September.

David John Robertson, FLS’ Area Visitor Services Manager, said;

“Work will be taking place 7 days a week so for public safety there will be no parking available at or near to this location until felling is completed.

“There will be pedestrian access through the site and banksmen in place. However, delays will be extremely lengthy and we advise walkers to use alternative routes for the mountains and forest.

“We will also soon be beginning felling work at a second site in the area that will require much longer closures. Being a steep ground site we will be making use of a skyline winch to extract trees so it will be a more demanding, more dangerous and more time-consuming job.”

The steep ground works at Coire Giùbhasachan near Ballachulish will run (weather permitting) from 16 August until 18 October 2021 and will affect hill access to Beinn a Bheither.

There will be no public access through the site and the hill path from the informal parking area at St Johns (NN 06875843) will be closed.   

David added;

“The nature of this site means that the felling operations are high-risk. As ever, public and staff safety is a top priority so with no obvious diversion we will be directing members of the public to the alternative routes onto the hill via Beinn Bhàn, which is accessible from Ballachulish village.

“There will also be timber lorries operating at both sites on the forest road network so it is imperative that where access is still possible, visitors obey safety signage at all times.

“We are  aware that climbers and hill walkers use the path to access Sgòrr Dhearg and Sgòr Dhònuil and would take this opportunity to apologise for any inconvenience.”

Notes to editors

1. Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) manages forests and land owned by Scottish Ministers in a way that supports and enables economically sustainable forestry; conserves and enhances the environment; delivers benefits for people and nature; and supports Scottish Ministers in their stewardship of Scotland's national forests and land.

2. forestryandland.gov.scot | twitter.com/ForestryLS

3. Media enquiries to Paul Munro, Media Manager, Forestry and Land Scotland Media Office 07785 527590 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.