Forest bathing at Taynish National Nature Reserve

Taynish is a peninsula of semi-natural oakwood south of Tayvallich, described by NatureScot as a northern rainforest. The air here is clean and damp, and the oaks are thick with mosses, liverworts and lichens such as old man's beard and lungwort; filmy fern grows on the trunks and rocks. Birch, hazel, willow, alder and holly grow among the oaks. It is a quiet, unhurried place at the end of a single-track road.

The Woodland Trail from the car park is mostly level and well surfaced, and a short branch leads down to Taynish Mill and the shore, with picnic benches and seats along the way. The Coastal Trails are also level. For more effort, the Barr Mòr Trail climbs steeply to a viewpoint. Spring brings wood anemones, bluebells and primroses; in autumn the woods turn russet and gold; in winter the lichens give the trees a grey-green look. There are no toilets on the reserve; the nearest are in Tayvallich.