6 August 2025
We parked the car in the village car park at Evanton and were soon climbing uphill through the community woodlands. I had been keen to visit the Black Rock Gorge hidden in the woods above Evanton ever since I stayed at the bunkhouse in the village back in 2013 during my long walk from end to end of mainland GB.
We managed to take the wrong path through the woods and didn’t follow a riverside route. However, we found a linking path so we emerged to meet the river at the footbridge crossing the dramatic and narrow ravine. We heard the rapidly flowing water crashing over the rocks before we saw it around 30 metres below our feet.
This is an example of a box canyon – a short, narrow canyon with steep walls on three sides so access is only through the mouth of the canyon. However, apparently some very experienced canyoneers have abseiled in and made the descent! They have had to place safety ropes prior to descent as otherwise there’s no way out if the gorge suddenly floods.
The flow would have been more impressive and dramatic in 2004 when the scene in the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was filmed. This is where Harry Potter flies through the gorge on his broomstick. Water flow has been controlled since 2013 with the creation of a hydro-electric scheme.
The red sandstone rocks have been carved by the flowing water forming multiple interesting shapes and hollows.
We decided to try walking further up the line of the mile long gorge. The path close to the river petered out but we found a path in the forest which climbed on up the hill and then descended to arrive at a second narrow bridge crossing the narrow chasm.
Like at many dramatic locations, myths and legends abound – a local noblewoman, Lady of Balconie, was said to be lured here by the devil and her cries can still be heard from the top. There are also stories of heroic leaps across the chasm.
We returned along the same path to the first bridge.
Crossing the bridge, we continued to follow a path above the gorge and then descending to the wider part of the river downstream of the gorge.
The route passes a hydro power generation plant from where there is a track up to the road, but I continued to follow the fainter riverside path.
I climbed up the steep side of the valley to reach a lane returning to Evanton.
It was only a short adventure but the gorge is certainly dramatic and well worth seeing.
Where's Kathryn? 