Overview

We have enjoyed walking and wheeling along the stretches of the old railway line between Strathpeffer and Dingwall that have already been upgraded for All Abilities several times. It’s a lovely rural location and with the changes that new seasons bring there’s always lots of new things to look out for amongst the surrounding countryside.

Transport & Parking

There is a designated disabled parking bay in the car park at the old railway platform at Strathpeffer and a large car park next to the Fodderty Cemetry, both of which offer access directly onto already completed stretches of the All Abilities path.

Access

Edit: Since writing the review below the path has now 90% complete. A path order has been granted for the small section of path at the Dingwall end that has yet to be upgraded which will leave just one more section after that in need of completion. Although a few sections of the line have now been completed, due I gather to a few varying factors they don’t all as yet meet up with each other. There is an information board near the Strathpeffer end of the line with a map and details of the current accessibility of the different stretches of the line. When complete this will link up to Dingwall and span 6 miles. It has already been several years in the making and is planned to take several more. I’ve been keeping up to date with their plans, developments and volunteer maintenance days via their Facebook page - “The Peffery away , An t-Slighe Pheothair”. The stretch from Strathpeffer I would guess to be currently no longer than a mile at most where it reaches a dead end to anyone unable to climb over fences and styles but it is enjoyable none the less. The walk takes you through a couple of wide gateways that need to be closed behind you and there is a bench and a cut log that people can rest on along the way should they need to. We like to combine our walk with a visit to the Tearooms at the Old Station afterwards which has a covered seating area on the platform outdoors and a portable ramp to provide wheelchair access into the building itself if the weather is bad. The completed stretch of path that leads from Fodderty cemetery stopped as it joined the railway line the last time we visited although some people depending on their mobility or wheelchair might still have been able to explore the existing path a little further but in one direction it was pretty uneven and in the other over grown so we decided to give this challenge a miss. This is where looking at their Facebook page the latest phase of the project has since been completed so we’re looking forward to going back and seeing how much further we can get. We did once try to see what the Dingwall end of the walk was like as there is another good section of path that looks temptingly close to get to from that end but it’s not yet accessible and likely I would imagine to be one of the parts not to be completed until the final stages. I have rated it as 4 stars just because it is not yet finished.

Toilets

Staff

Photos