Tentsmuir Forest Walks and Cycling
This route visits the expansive Tentsmuir Forest on the Fife Coast. The forest is a popular place for walking and cycling with miles of trails around the pine woodland and sand dunes.
You can start off from the car park located at the south eastern end of the site. From here you can pick up various trails including the Ice House trail which runs to the 19th century ice house. There's also the Morton Lochs Trail on the western side of the forest which will take you around 3 pretty lochs.
The forest is a haven for wildlife with red squirrels and roe deer to look out for on the route. On the north eastern corner there's the Tentsmuir Coastal Nature Reserve where you can see a variety of wading birds.
On the Ordnance Survey map below you can see the cycle route marked in the orange dots.
Postcode
KY16 0DR - Please note: Postcode may be approximate for some rural locationsPlease click here for more information
Tentsmuir Forest Ordnance Survey Map 
- view and print off detailed OS map
Tentsmuir Forest Open Street Map 
- view and print off detailed map
Tentsmuir Forest OS Map 
- Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking
Tentsmuir Forest Open Street Map 
- Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking
Dog Walking
As you'd expect the woodlands and beach are an ideal place to bring your dog for a walk.
Further Information and Other Local Ideas
The epic Fife Coastal Path runs past the forest. You could pick up this long distance trail and follow it towards Tayport or try the popular St Andrews to Anstruther Coastal Walk. In St Andrews there's also Craigtoun Country Park. Here you can visit the nature trail, Italian garden, greenhouses, formal gardens, miniature railway and the large pond. The waterside trails at Cameron Reservoir are also not too far away.
Cycle Routes and Walking Routes Nearby
Photos
Sand dunes behind Tentsmuir Beach stabilised by planting pines. The old dunes can still be seen under the trees. Looking west, inland.
Tentsmuir Forest. Typical Forestry Commission sign, featuring the local wildlife. This is the entrance to the forest on the Kinshaldy road to the beach car park. Tentsmuir was once an area of sand dune and slack that was planted as a vast pine forest.
Tentsmuir Sands. The dune front on the Eden estuary with Fife in the background. Sand is being blown off the vast beach forming small dunes backed by a vast area of links land.
Orienteering in the forest. Forestry Commission forests are not just about timber production, although that is their primary purpose. Recreational use is important, and this traditionally forest based sport is a big user of forests. This is the changeover in the 2005 Scottish Relay Championships. The runners are meeting on one of the tracks that form a grid throughout the forest. Orienteers favour mature open woodland free of ground clutter. The northern part of Tentsmuir is ideal, although things get thicker with younger plantings further south.
A sandy path between the plantation and active dunes behind the beach.
Logging road. Divides dense spruce woods from open Corsican pine planted on dunes. The road carries National Cycle Route 1 on a delightful loop around the forest.
Morton Lochs,Tayport. This the north loch at Morton Lochs. This is a Scottish Natural Heritage nature reserve with hides to allow the wildlife to be observed.
Anti tank blocks, Tentsmuir. In common with all the sandy coasts of Eastern Scotland, Tentsmuir is lined with concrete blocks to hold up a possible invasion in World War II. Dundee with two rigs under repair in the background.