SURROUNDING AREA

The surrounding land is predominantly used for arable agriculture interspersed with a mixture of amenity and commercial woodlands/forestry, small residential building groups and individual houses in addition to the patchwork of larger private estates scattered across the county.

The area is well known for its wide variety of outdoor pursuits. Crieff Hydro Hotel offers an assortment of leisure facilities including spa and swimming pool with its Action Glen facility hosting many indoor and outdoor activities including 4x4 Land Rover experience, air rifle range, high rope, zipline, archery and horse riding.

There are, of course, abundant opportunities to enjoy Perthshire’s magnificent and varied landscape with the likes of Ben Chonzie, often noted as a beginners Munro, accessible from the nearby Invergeldie, Ben Vorlich and its neighbouring Munro Stùc a' Chròin, overlooking Loch Earn, or the lower peak of Torlum Hill, a heathery summit close to Crieff with views out across Strathearn back towards the Estate to the north west and south east towards the Ochil Hills. For the less experienced, Lady Mary’s Walk which runs along the banks of the River Earn is popular with families, dog walkers and horse riders.

The village of Comrie, twinned with Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada, has an unusual Hogmanay tradition: at midnight, a torchlight procession marches through the village. The parade traditionally features the village's twelve strongest men carrying long, thick birch poles to which flaming tarred rags are tied and carried to each of the village's four corners. The parade is frequently accompanied by the local pipe band and decorated floats with the villagers dressed in costume. Following the parade, torches are tossed into the River Earn from the Dalginross Bridge. Notably, in 1840, the village of Comrie became the site of one of the world's first seismometers, and a working replica is now located in The Ross in Comrie. Being situated on the Highland Boundary Fault, it experiences more tremors than anywhere else in the UK.

Nearby Crieff has developed into a tourist hub with a rich history, but perhaps most famous for cattle droving and whisky. Some of the town’s other attractions include the Caithness Glass Visitor Centre, the Innerpeffray Library, which is Scotland's oldest lending library having been established in 1680 and the neighbouring St Marys Chapel which was built in 1508. The market town had long been a magnate for highlanders selling their famed black cattle at the Michaelmas market with reports of the hills around the town being painted black with beasts, up to as many as 30,000 at a time, and from all corners of the Highlands, some coming from as far away as Caithness and the Hebrides.

While Crieff has enjoyed royal connections throughout its long history, the current connection is through William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales and Earl and Countess of Strathearn who have visited the town and have sported the now famous Strathearn Tartan.

The Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park is a fifteen-minute drive west and boasts a myriad of lochs and hills which support a diverse range of wildlife including black grouse, golden eagle, osprey, pine marten, red squirrel, and otters. In the winter, skiing can be enjoyed at Aviemore, Glenshee or the Nevis Range, all of which are approximately ninety minutes to two hours’ drive away.

Perthshire is widely known as ‘Big Tree Country’ and beautiful walks, such as taking a wander through the nearby glens of the Ochil Hills, The Knock above Crieff Hydro or Glen Turret at Crieff where you can sometimes spy the elusive red squirrel, mountain hares and red kites or, if you want to go slightly further afield, take a wander amongst the majestic Douglas Fir and Scots Pine forest at The Hermitage, near Dunkeld.

For the golfer there are several fine courses within striking distance with Crieff, Auchterarder and Dunkeld & Birnam all providing 18-hole courses in addition to Pitlochry with its fantastic views of the rolling countryside of the Highland Fringe. Gleneagles Hotel which has three of its own championship courses, is a short drive south. There are also several very interesting 9-hole courses scattered across the local area with the closest being at Comrie or more notably at the Foulford Inn, one of the highest golf courses in Perthshire, with stunning panoramic views.

Watersports can be enjoyed on Loch Earn, 9.5 miles to the west, which includes activities such as wakeboarding, paddle boarding, kayaking and is also home to the Loch Earn Sailing Club. Equally, you might visit the family friendly Loch Tummel Sailing Club further north at Pitlochry in addition to the Loch Tay Boating Centre at Kenmore which provides further opportunities including motorboat hire, kayaking and canoeing. If you have your own kit, Loch Lubnaig a thirty-minute drive west, near Callander, is popular with open water swimmers and for launching canoes and kayaks.

For the equine minded, Strathearn is a horse friendly area with plenty of opportunities whether on designated routes or along country lanes, drove roads, hill tracks, through woodland or over the gently undulating open countryside. The Strathearn Branch of The Pony Club also hosts numerous events throughout the year.

Field sports and fishing can also be catered for by many of the neighbouring estates with day tickets for salmon and sea trout fishing on the Rivers Tay, Almond and elsewhere on the Earn if you fancy a change of scenery, to name just a few. Formal driven shooting, as well as walked up or rough days in addition to stalking can also be arranged nearby.