Falls of Dochart, Killin

The short answer

The Falls of Dochart are not one tall waterfall. They are a broad run of rapids and low rock ledges where the River Dochart pours under the Bridge of Dochart (dated 1760, about 100 m long) on the A827 at the west end of Killin, then splits around Inchbuie, the island where the chiefs of Clan Macnab are buried. No official height is published. Park free at Monemore, just north of the bridge, and walk 2–3 minutes; the inn’s car park charges non-customers. The best single photo is from the bridge parapet looking upstream at the rapids, in the morning; at low water, the slabs below Gray Street give the classic shot of white water with the arches behind. Before you drive, check SEPA’s live river gauge (linked under Spate or summer): high water means a roaring river and no rocks. The bridge view takes a few minutes; the rocks, the island and the viaduct path fill an hour. For buses, shops and the rest of the village, our Killin village guide has the details.

Where it is: map of the falls

Map © OpenStreetMap contributors. Tap a marker for details. Directions to Monemore car park · The bridge in maps

The falls in spate and at low water

Where to stand: five viewpoints

For most visitors the falls are a view from the bridge, says the National Park. There are four more places worth knowing, each with a different angle on the water.

1. 1

   On the Bridge of Dochart

   The classic view · one lane, no pavement

   The A827 crosses the falls on the bridge, so this is where you get both views: upstream to the main run of rapids, downstream to where the river splits around Inchbuie. OpenStreetMap shows the bridge as a single lane with no pavement on either side and a 20 mph limit, so you stand on the edge of the carriageway; the National Park’s one warning for the falls is to be careful of traffic when viewing from it. Stand tight to the parapet and keep children on the inside.

2. 2

   Down on the rocks, from Gray Street

   South-east bank, just upstream · low water only

   Gray Street is the road on the south side of the bridge, past the Falls of Dochart Inn. A gap in the stone wall there gives access to the rocks in and around the falls. When the river is low, the National Park says it is easy to scramble out onto dry ledges and boulders, but they may be slippery. This is the angle in most photos, with flat slabs in front and white water and the bridge behind. When water covers the slabs, stay on the road.

3. 3

   Inchbuie, the Macnab island

   Locked gate on the bridge · key in the village

   A small iron gate on the side of the bridge leads down a flight of stone steps to the island. Past the pillars, the screen wall and its arches, an avenue of trees runs to the walled Clan Macnab burial ground at the far end, about 200 m from the bridge. The Clan Macnab Society says the key is held at Killin Library on Main Street. You can see the burial ground from the bridge without it.

4. 4

   The old railway viaduct

   About 400 m downstream · no traffic

   The Dochart Viaduct carried the railway line to the Loch Tay pier, on a branch that opened in 1886. It now forms part of a path linking the north and south of the village, and the National Park’s appraisal picks out its view of the falls and the Clan Macnab burial place. It is the quiet alternative to the bridge parapet, and the best place to watch a spate without traffic at your back.

5. 5

   The north bank by the mill

   St Fillans Mill · toilets

   At the north-west end of the bridge stands St Fillans Mill, built about 1840 as a corn mill and later used for weaving tweed. It became a visitor centre in 1994 and closed in 2011, so older guides that send you there for information or for the island key are out of date. Stirling Council lists public toilets at the Falls of Dochart, and OpenStreetMap places them at this end of the bridge, about 35 m from its middle.

Photo angles and the best light

The bridge runs north-west to south-east and the river flows from south-west to north-east. Those bearings, measured on the map, decide the light at each viewpoint: the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

1. 1

   Upstream from the bridge

   Facing south-west · best in the morning

   The main run of rapids, shot from the parapet. The sun is behind you in the morning and straight into the lens from mid-afternoon, when the water turns to glare. This is the spate shot; keep your back to the parapet and an eye on the traffic.

2. 2

   The arches from the Gray Street rocks

   Facing north · afternoon and evening · low water only

   From the slabs just upstream of the bridge you look roughly north at the arches with white water in front. The afternoon and evening sun comes from behind you and to the left and falls on the upstream face of the bridge. Only from dry rock.

3. 3

   Downstream to Inchbuie

   Facing north-east · afternoon and evening

   From the bridge the river splits around the island and its trees. The low sun is behind you late in the day; in the morning you are shooting towards it.

4. 4

   Upstream from the viaduct

   Facing south-west · morning · no traffic

   The island, the white water and the bridge stacked one behind the other, from about 400 m downstream. Morning light is behind you, and with no traffic this is the one viewpoint where a tripod and a slow shutter are practical.

Spate or summer: check the river first

The National Park calls the falls most magnificent when the River Dochart is in spate. At low water the rush is still worth seeing, and the big boulders in the riverbed are exposed. They are two different visits: in spate you watch from the bridge and the viaduct, at low water you can walk out on the slabs.

You can check the level before you drive. SEPA publishes a live gauge for the Dochart at Killin, station 14933. Its normal range runs from 0.139 m to 2.083 m, and the highest level on record is 2.816 m, on 30 December 2015. A reading high in that range, or rising after rain, points to a spate; a low reading means the slabs are more likely to be dry. SEPA says its data are provisional.

Rain decides the show, so plan around rain and daylight by month and keep the falls for the day after a wet one.

Live river level: Dochart at Killin (SEPA)

What you are looking at

• The Bridge of Dochart

  Dated 1760 and 1831 · Category A

  Historic Environment Scotland describes a rubble-stone bridge that crosses the falls in an irregular, winding line, on four segmental arches of different widths plus three culverts. Its datestones, now much weathered, read 1760 and 1831; the 1831 work followed flood damage to the main span. The National Park’s appraisal adds that it was built with stone taken from the falls. It was raised to Category A in 2006.

• Inchbuie (Innis Bhuidhe)

  Iron Age forts · Macnab burial place

  The central part of the island is a Scheduled Ancient Monument believed to hold two prehistoric forts, probably Iron Age. The Macnab burial place, with a screen wall of three arches and a walled enclosure gated on its south side, is listed Category B and dates largely from the late 18th century. The chief gave the island to the Macnab Memorial Trust in 1987, and its western end is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its landforms.

• Why the river breaks up here

  Eas Dochart, ‘the scourer’

  The Gaelic name is Eas Dochart, reputedly ‘the scourer’. The National Park explains the rapids: the river widens just before Killin and the gradient steepens at the same time, so the water spreads across a wide bed of rock and pours under the bridge and round the island.

Costs, keys and toilets

Seeing the falls

No ticket or gate: the main views are from the road bridge and the riverside.

Step-free access

No step-free, traffic-free viewpoint is published. Main Street has pavements up to the bridge, but the bridge itself has none (OpenStreetMap), so a wheelchair or buggy shares the single lane with cars. The rocks are uneven and the island starts with stone steps.

Inchbuie key

Held at Killin Library, Main Street, FK21 8UW, says the Clan Macnab Society (page dated 2020). Phone 01567 820571 before you go.

Library hours

Mon 10am–1pm and 2pm–5pm; Tue 10am–1pm and 3pm–7pm; Wed 2pm–5pm; Fri 10am–1pm and 3pm–7pm; closed Thu, Sat and Sun. Hours can change on public holidays, so phone first.

Toilets

Stirling Council lists public toilets at Killin (Falls of Dochart) and on Station Road. No hours are published.

River level

Live on SEPA’s Dochart at Killin gauge, linked in the section above.

Killin Library hours (Stirling Council)

Where to park for the Falls of Dochart

Use the free council car parks, not the inn’s. Stirling Council lists all three Killin car parks as free; the list is undated, so check the signs on the day. Monemore is the closest, just north of the bridge; the McLaren Hall and Station Road car parks are further up Main Street. The car park beside the Falls of Dochart Inn is private and enforced by number-plate camera.

Falls of Dochart Inn parking terms

When it is quiet

The National Park’s appraisal says most visitors only look from the bridge, many coach passengers go no further than the drop-off lay-by and the falls, and numbers rise in summer. For an empty parapet come early in the morning or in the evening; the National Park says that is also when otters may be seen at the head of Loch Tay.

Good walks near the Falls of Dochart

The National Park lists four walks from Killin, all starting in or beside the village. Distances are the Park’s.

• Historic Killin

  1.5 miles (2.5 km)

  A village walk that takes in Finlarig Castle and Moirlanich Longhouse as well as the streets around the falls.

• Auchmore Circuit

  2.5 miles (4 km)

  A circular route through the woodlands east of the village.

• Sron a’ Chlachain

  2 miles (3 km) · steep

  A steep climb, by way of Fingal’s Stone, up the 400 m peak that overlooks the village.

• Acharn Forest

  4 miles (6 km)

  A circular forest walk south-west of Killin.

Food by the falls

• Falls of Dochart Inn

  Gray Street · east end of the bridge · history and food

  The inn stands at the east end of the bridge, in a row of single and two-storey buildings that the National Park’s appraisal says still look like simple houses. Its smokehouse began with Bill Hill, a local ghillie who landed a 40lb salmon on Loch Tay, and his son Simon carried it on. Today it is a bar and restaurant with its own smoked salmon, local venison, burgers, fish and chips and pizzas, plus a coffee shop with home baking and a smokehouse tasting counter. Non-residents are welcome and tables can be booked on its website. Eat here and your parking is covered, once you register your plate.

• Killin Hotel

  Riverview Restaurant

  Scottish dishes in a restaurant overlooking the River Lochay, and a bar with more than 70 whiskies and an open fire. Open to non-residents; the hotel recommends booking.

For cafés, opening notes and more choice, see where to eat in Killin. Staying over? Compare places to stay in Killin.

Questions people ask

Staying near the Falls of Dochart

Nearby

• South by the A85LochearnheadThe village at the west end of Loch Earn, on the C60 bus route to Callander.
• Beyond LochearnheadLoch EarnSailing, fishing and trails between Lochearnhead and St Fillans.
• In the villageKillinBuses, shops, food and beds in the village around the falls.

More like this

• Another waterfallBracklinn Falls, CallanderA waterfall circuit with a footbridge above a gorge, on Callander’s doorstep.
• WildlifeWildlife in the parkWhere to look for otters, red squirrels and birds of prey.
• By bikeCycling routesNational Cycle Network Route 7 runs through Killin.
• All ideasThings to doEvery attraction and activity guide on the site.