Loch Insh Outdoor Residential Activity Centre Cairngorms National Park Scotland

Loch Insh Outdoor Residential Activity Centre Cairngorms National Park Scotland is based in the Cairngorm National Park and specialise in sporting activities that enable visitors/students to experience the best of the Outdoor opportunities in this area.

We are a Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and Snow sport Scotland (SSS) accredited training centre, both for introductory learning and instructor training, however whilst our USP’s is Sail sports and Snow sports, our activity and experiential offerings are much broader:

• Land Activities: Archery, Bushcraft, Low Level Hiking, Mountain Biking, Orienteering, Problem Solving and Team Building,
• Water Activities: Canoeing, Kayaking, Jungle Float, Paddleboarding, Sailing, Windsurfing, Wingfoiling,
• Winter Activities: Eis Stock, Skating, Skiing, Snowboarding, Stargazing,

Not all these activities are appropriate all year round, however all can be delivered either as taster sessions (most common U12 age group), whilst Canoeing, Kayaking, Sailing, Skiing, Snowboarding, Windsurfing and Wing foiling can be a single activity focus, multi-day course.

All activities and all courses, with the exception of Mountain Skiing and Snowboarding and Spey river descents, can be delivered from our site sitting on the shores of Loch Insh, no further vehicle travel required once you arrive.

Accommodation is spread between a 20 room, 2 apartment accommodation block in the refurbished old Insh Hall dating from 1898, and 13 log chalets in the grounds; the Boathouse Restaurant, with it’s stunning view overlooking Loch Insh, serves all meals.

Within the accommodation, Insh Hall itself has a common room that can seat up to 70 in theatre style and on the lower part of the site the Ptarmigan Dome can seat 50 in theatre style.  There are further breakout rooms in the Feshie and Spey apartments and Boathouse Restaurant that can accommodate between 15 and 40 persons.

Around the centre there are lovely low level walking loops of 2.5hr duration, and with the Speyside way passing right by the centre, there are further low level walking and Mountain Biking routes along the Speyside way, taking you both north east and south west, or leading to numerous routes up Glen Feshie to the south east either up and back or up and over estate roads to Glentromie and back on the Speyside way, all can be done on our fleet of Mountain Bikes, guided or unguided.

In the immediate grounds and surrounding areas we have Archery Ranges set up under wonderful mature Beach trees and in nearby woods there is wonderful terrain for introductory map reading and Orienteering not to mention fantastic spaces for Bushcraft sessions.

On Loch Insh itself is a fantastic place to learn Paddles ports and one of the best and safest places in Scotland to learn any sails ports.  There is no tide, no currents and the prevailing wind is onshore bringing you back to a gently shelving pebble beach should you get in difficulty – and just occasionally in winter it is cold enough, long enough that we can skate on it.

We are an RYA training centre for Sailing and Windsurfing offering both development courses for beginners and accreditation courses for Instructors in Powerboat, Sail, Windsurf and Wing foil.

Despite the ice in winter, the Loch is a favourite for wild swimmers all year round, whether breaking the ice or not, with the delight of relaxing in the loch side Sauna for those over 16 a welcome way to relax at the end of the day.

Our Artificial Ski Slope is one of the best beginner slopes anywhere in the country, for its gentle gradient, with a large inventory of skis and snowboard equipment and clothing we have a perfect place to learn to ski or snowboard.  The slope is also a venue for more competent skiers and riders and is a regional training base for Snowsport Scotland Instructor training and accreditation and along with our portable rails and small jumps and an airbag, makes for natural progressions from tricks and somersaults off our Jungle Float into water, to the same tricks with skis and snowboard onto the airbag.

In winter we can progress the snow sports, weather and snow permitting, onto real snow at Cairngorm Mountain (30 mins) and Lecht Ski Area (45mins) away, where further snow sport progressions can be made.

In summer we can progress the paddle sports disciplines to a Spey descent and though requiring transport off site, this is a thoroughly fulfilling expedition from Kingussie to Aberlour or onward to the sea.  The River Spey, Scotland’s fastest flowing river by volume, flows through Loch Insh, yet despite this large volume of water the upper reaches south of Grantown on Spey are remarkably tranquil.  Insh Marshes, the 6 miles of river to the south between Kingussie and Loch Insh, are one of the most important wetlands in Europe with wild Beavers having recently been reintroduced, makes for a gentle start to this expedition whereas the bigger water towards Aberlour is an exciting climax to a paddle sports week.

Another great educational day out that is very close by but off site is the Royal Zoological Society Scotland Highland Wildlife Park, 3 miles away on the opposite side of Loch Insh.  The Wildlife Park is an excellent day out to learn about the native animals once indigenous to Scotland, such as Bison, Lynx, and Wolves, as well as more exotic non native animals such as Amur Tigers, Snow Leopards, Wolverine and Polar Bears.

We are:

AALA licensed,

An Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Training Centre,

A Snowsport Scotland (SSS) Training Partner,

Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA)

Core business circa 60 – 90 students & teachers.

Smaller Groups less than 10 with 1 staff member,

Largest Groups 130.

• INSH HALL ROOMS
  • Typical ‘rooms’ are a mix of twin beds plus a bunk bed.
  • All ‘rooms’ are en-suite
  • Most showers are just shower curtains and wet floor.
  • 3 x single room (2 are within larger apartments and must be booked with the whole apartment.
  • 2 x twin room
  • 2 x triple room (bunk & 1 single)
  • 8 x four room (bunk & 2 single)
  • 1 x four room (2 bunks)
  • 3 x five room (2 bunks & 1 single)
  • 1 x six room (3 bunks)
  • 1 x eight room (3 bunks & 2 single)
• All chalets have shared bathrooms and kitchenettes.
  • 1 couples chalet 1 x one double bed
  • 3 x four person chalet (1 double room & 1 twin room)
  • 4 x four person & 1 child sleeping platform (1 double room & 1 twin room & 1 sleeping platform)
  • 1 x six person chalet (1 double room, 1 twin room & 1 bunk room)
  • 1 x six person chalet (1 double, 1 twin & 1 twin sleeping platform)
  • 1 x six person chalet & 1 child sleeping platform (1 double, 1 twin, 1 bunk & 1 single sleeping platform)
  • 2 x eight person chalet (1 double, 1 twin, 1 bunk, 2 single sleeping platform)
• Among the 13 chalets there are 7 with hot tubs.

All our activities are individually risk assessed and where relevant inspected by AALA, RYA, SSS.  We also state our Standard Operating Procedures and have these all listed on a private link on our website for viewings by visiting teachers.

All groups are asked to consent to Loch Insh being able to film and photo the activities, and groups are specifically asked if they wish to opt out of this waver and to not be filmed.

Kathleen Sandilands

schools@lochinsh.co.uk

One supervising adult goes free for every 10 children, pro-rata for groups that do not add up to a 10 and additional staff members/parents/support staff are charged the child rate.

We do not have a dedicated first aid station on site as such, we do not have a medical room.  But we do have medical first aid kits at both main activities receptions, and all instructors and many other staff are 1st Aid trained to a 2-day Outdoor Emergency 1st Aid Certificate standard.

• Restaurant open to the public,
• Dining area within the Restaurant,
• 4 public toilets,
• Several Social/Study Areas, 2 that can accommodate up to 50 & 70 as stated, and 3 more that can accommodate 15 – 40.
• 2 drying rooms in the main accommodation block,
• Wet (for water sports) and Dry (for snow sports) changing areas in the boathouse,
• Free WIFI,
• Shop & Vending Machine.

Can provide all options B&B, D,B&B and L,D,B&B.  We can also provide self made packed lunches.

Open 364 days, only day closed is Christmas Day.

In the Village of Kincraig, Strathspey, the gateway to the Cairngorms National Park, just south of Aviemore.

• Near Cairngorm Mountain, and
• Kincraig Wildlife Park