Touchstone Maze
Touchstone Maze
4
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4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles55 reviews
Excellent
19
Very good
24
Average
10
Poor
2
Terrible
0

team_mayhem
London, UK34 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022
Stones are ok, not my thing. the view is probably more interesting than the actual stones. Easiest way to see is to park at Blackmuir woods and walk along.

A single track road leads to some houses and private road for a farm, don't drive up there is no where to park. Park at the bottom near the main road. We saw a few cars and motorhomes all trying to drive up into the farmers field or park on the single track road while walking both up and down. I can imagine the locals would get pretty annoyed by this and rightly so! It's a hike but it's the highlands.

Park and the bottom and walk up.
Written 10 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

GrampianScotland
Perth and Kinross, UK617 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2014 • Couples
Really did not appreciate the history of the Maze until we came upon it in the midle of the woods.
IT was hardly believable that the stones from the Western Isles were 3000 years old and that the stones from the other ages had been dated as well.
Written 16 July 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Alan S
Dundee, UK194 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021
Interesting to see the layout. A pleasant established path in a woodland walk to get to the site. a pleasant non-strenuous walk
Written 23 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Bean-astair
Alba160 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2018 • Friends
It's less than a mile from the car park at Blackmuir Wood on a good path that climbs gently through the fringe of the wood to the so-called maze. It's not actually a maze, but a path winding through an installation of 81 large geological specimens brought from different parts of northern Scotland and placed in a pattern of spokes round a central circle.

It's a splendid idea, but so much more could have been made of it. I had expected each stone to have some sort of information plaque to say what it was, where it came from, perhaps how old it was and a bit of information about its geological significance, like the geological garden in Helmsdale. Instead there was one information board with a short piece trying to relate the maze to ancient stone circles, and nothing on site about the geology.

Fortunately we had printed off the list from the Forestry Commission web site to tell us which of the numbered stones is what, because there is absolutely nothing at the 'maze' to tell you. There's also an app with a little more detail. We spent some time identifying every stone from the list, and looking for their features. This was the pleasure.

The numerical ordering is bizarre; it would have made far more sense to number the specimens in the order you encounter them by following the obvious path, but it is quite a challenge to keep track of which is which when No 4 is next to No 7 which is next to No 11. We were also sorry to see how much moss and lichen is growing over the specimens; the Skye Marble, for instance, should be pure shining white but is actually covered in dull dark grey.

The list telling us which stones are which contained a number of misspellings and we did not agree with the descriptions of some of the specimens, for example some of those described as mica-schist were mostly psammite; and although psammite is one of the common rock types in the highlands, there were no specimens labelled as psammite. There were in some cases multiple specimens of the same rock type, but we could think of various interesting types that were not included at all.

As the vast majority of people visiting here will not have seen the web site or downloaded the lists as we did, the shortcomings of the list will not matter to most visitors, but we felt that this was a tremendous opportunity to present interesting geology in an interesting way to those without geological knowledge, and that that opportunity has been completely missed.
Written 3 October 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

wooger87
N.Ireland118 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2016 • Couples
We were staying locally in a cottage, and had just decided to go for a walk with the dog through the woods, and came across this little gem in the middle of the woods. It's not massive....... Doesn't take ages to walk round or anything, but definitely a nice surprise whilst we were out.
Written 21 June 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

mealtimes
Sheffield, UK8 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2015 • Couples
Went forca shortvwalk as was a rainy day. Came across the maze in the wood.the information board was very helpfull and easy to follow.we walked arrowed for about 20min .The stones when looked at closely were very different.
Written 24 November 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Di_Traveller11
St Helens, United Kingdom205 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2015 • Couples
Fascinating place and lots of history. Its a lovely little walk from the town and is easy to get too. Not too taxing. All the stones are from different areas of Scotland and all from different Geological eras.
Written 11 October 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

porty1
Liverpool, UK108 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2014 • Couples
Amazing what you can do in here, keeps you occupied for quite a while, highly recommended. Well worth a vivit
Written 23 November 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

John R
Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom39 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2013 • Family
Cracking little walk and attraction this. Combine this with a trip to Strathpeffer for a good day out.
The maze itself is a nifty walk from the Blackmuir woods car park. You can rejoin the main walk with cracking views.
The Maze is made up from stones brought in from all over Scotland. The good description board is an effective guide.
The signage could do improvement as it is at best vague for non serious hill walkers, as a very rough guide I would guess it 1/2 mile from where you turn off main track, distance markers would be useful.
All in all a good little day out.
Written 11 October 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

John S
IRVINE3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2013 • Friends
We walked Knockfarrell on the Saturday and encountered the Maze. I know that it is a modern construction but it is based on an ancient concept using stones from all over Scotland
Written 9 October 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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