Merkinch Local Nature Reserve, Inverness

Beautiful and calm, if you want to forget you are in a city for a moment this is the place to do it. Lovely walk with plenty of places to sit and enjoy the scenery and watch out for some of the more unusual visitors. Whether you like listening to the waves lapping at the sea wall while the tide is in, doing a spot of birdwatching, or even just stretching your legs, the nature reserve is worth a visit!

1 stars because there was lots of litter in the trees and water! Why do people feel they can throw their rubbish on the ground and in such a beautiful place, makes me so angry! Apart from that it was nice to walk around watching the busy bees.

Having read some of the reviews on trip advisor I was a little dubious, but this really is a wonderful place to visit. We walked up the Ness from Inverness Town Centre, and entered the nature reserve from the turning circle on to the sea wall, which was well signposted. We arrived at high tide, and although we kept our eyes peeled we didn't see any dolphins, seals, or sea otters. However, the views out across the Firth were stunning and with the intermittent sunshine were well worth it. We diverted off to the left on a couple of the paths and didn't see too much evidence of litter or dog dirt, only rarely. We saw a large number of grey herons, and imagine that at low tide there would be a lot going on beside the sea wall on the mud flat. The paths were all well looked after with only a few big puddles and mud patches. In summer you'd be fine in normal shoes. We walked on to the Caledonian Canal as the end of our walk, going up to the final lock gates in the Firth and then back down to finish at the Swing Bridge and the Jammy Piece Cafe. We were lucky enough to be in time to see the Swing Bridge operate and let a boat through to the sequence of locks beyond. A really pleasant, interesting and varied walk with good paths and something for both wildlife lovers and engineering lovers.

A quiet reserve. A nice peaceful spot. Take binoculars!

Free parking, and usually lots of grey herons and curlews wading, and a nice enough stroll if you're in the area.