Thoughts on the John o'Groats Trail

The 239 kilometre (149 mile) John o'Groats Trail falls into three very contrasting parts.  

From Inverness to Dornoch the route is through fields and forests, and apart from the occasional overgrown stretch, easy walking on paths, forest tracks and quiet roads. Each day you visit small towns and villages and there are no large climbs to tax you. 

From Dornoch to Helmsdale the trail follows the coast along sandy beaches, by golf courses with towns with accommodation, shops and cafés each day. While there was some difficult walking on pebbles or soft sand especially at high tide, it was pretty easy. 

After Helmsdale the character of the trail turns dark and challenging. Although a coastal route it was now on cliff tops, climbing up and down little valleys and walking around vertical sided inlets and little harbours. Not ideal for those with a fear of heights, the path is often between a fence or wall and the edge of a steep drop down to the sea, crashing on rocks below. Sometimes the strip of rough wet grass to walk on is narrow. Fortunately I was walking in early October when the vegetation was beginning to die back, even so there were some overgrown sections that were difficult to push through. Some barbed wire fences must be crossed. 

Octagonal black and white waymarks indicate the route. These are still being posted and in places are plentiful, in others they are still absent. The guidebook from the "Friends of the John o'Groats Trail" is necessary with its sketch maps and instructions. I also downloaded a gpx track for my GPS from the daily stages of the John o'Groats Trail on the "Walk Highlands" Website. For the first two parts I generally used the waymarks and my GPS, but north of Helmsdale the guidebook proved essential to ascertain which side of fences I should be walking on. Often in this difficult northern third I was not sure if I was on the trail, being misled by deer tracks through high bracken or finding the field boundaries did not quite seem to match what I was seeing on the ground. Facilities were also less common in this stretch, Wick being the only town of any size.

Particularly on the coastal sections there was plenty of history from iron age brochs, to medieval castle ruins to remnants of the Second World War. There was also beauty in forests of tall pines, long sandy beaches, and dramatic cliffs. Wildlife included deer, red squirrels and seals. In October there were not as many sea birds as I expected but earlier in the year during the nesting season I suspect there would have been many more. A less pleasant type of wild life are midges, tiny insects that can plague you in the highlands if you ever stand still, requiring a fine mesh head net and midge repellent for any comfort. Fortunately I walked in October, a time when the midges were not a problem. 

The John o'Groats Trail is an obvious candidate for walking if you are completing the End to End hike from Land's End, but as a stand alone trail I would have some misgivings. It is neither one thing nor another, much of it is easy walking but it also has challenging sections for the more committed hiker, much of it is a coastal route but not the first third of it. Nevertheless it is a great trail if you have never visited this part of Scotland, the key figure behind seems to be Jay Wilson, who deserves much praise.