FAQ: What is there to do at the trial site?
Begin your visit at Loch Coille-bharr (due to limited parking facilities, we strongly recommend you leave your vehicle in this car park). From here, you can walk down to the Scottish Beaver Trial Information Centre or you can stay at Loch Collie-bharr to try out our Beaver Detective Trail. This is a challenging walk, taking two hours to follow the sign-posts around the loch. If you are lucky, you may spot a beaver around dusk and dawn. In any case, we hope you spot some evidence of the beavers. We also hope you enjoy walking in a beautiful and rugged place, following the trail which winds around rocky outcrops and through boggy hollows. Please be prepared by wearing hiking boots, and beware of the midges.
Please download a map of Knapdale (link coming soon) to see exactly where walkways and parking facilities are available for use.
The beavers were released into Knapdale Forest in May 2009 and the first few months are a crucial time. We will be working at the trial site to engage the local community as well as trying to inspire visitors and residents to support this exciting conservation project. We hope to see many people visiting the trial site over time, but the beavers do need some time to settle in.
Visitors will stand a better chance of seeing beaver signs, and maybe even some beavers, by waiting a few months until late summer of autumn 2009 to make their trip to the trial site. By timing your visit in the early morning or early evening, you will have the best chance of spotting these intriguing animals in the wild.
