Forsinard is the name of a railway halt, but the country around it is what people come for. The Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland is the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe, a vast, treeless plain of peat, pools and sedge that rolls out to the horizon under a huge sky. It was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2024 for its importance as a carbon store and a wildlife habitat. West Halladale lies in this country, in the strath, or valley, of the Halladale river, which runs north to the sea at Melvich.
The landscape looks empty at first, but it is full of life. Golden plovers, dunlin and greenshank breed on the bog, hen harriers quarter the moor, and in the pools you can find the bright green of sphagnum moss and the sticky red leaves of sundew. The smell after rain is rich and earthy. A nature reserve run by the RSPB at Forsinard has a visitor centre by the railway halt, and a trail with boardwalks takes you into the bog without wetting your boots.
The road along the strath is single track in places, with passing places, and the main A897 runs south from the north coast to Helmsdale. The bends are broad and the gradients gentle, but the surface can be rough, and sheep, deer and the odd lorry appear without warning. Wind is a constant, and in winter the road can be closed by snow. Midges, in summer, are the plague of the north and will find you the moment you stop.
Fuel is the thing to plan. There is none for a very long way, and the nearest town of any size is Thurso, thirty-seven kilometres to the north, with about eight thousand people. Halkirk is smaller, and Helmsdale, on the east coast to the south, has a small pump. Fill up before you go, and carry a spare if you can. There is almost no phone signal.
The Kildonan Gold Rush, in 1869, brought hundreds of diggers to the next valley, and the story of the nuggets is still told locally. Late spring is the best time, when the birds are nesting and the long evenings give light until after ten.