(Aberfeldy to SCA Access point)

NAME OF RIVER: Tay

WHERE IS IT?: Tayside! Flows out of Loch...Tay. The Tay offers paddling for many levels from flat touring to whitewater and the national slalom site at Grandtully. The river can be paddled all the way from Loch Tay to the North Sea at Dundee. The river is normally paddled at well known and well used sections.

PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: Aberfeldy (NN851 494) to SCA access point (NN 88832 51788). The get-out point is tricky to find but cross the bridge from the main road at Grandtully and head upstream on the north side. A track on the left leading down a steep hill takes you to the car park.

APPROX LENGTH: 6 km.

TIME NEEDED: Unknown.

ACCESS HASSLES: It should be remembered that the Tay is a well-used fishing river so it is worth keeping an eye out.

WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: Stays paddleable for much of the year.

GRADING: Grade 2.

MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: None.

Rob Bouchard...'Paddled the Tay (Perthshire) Tuesday 3rd Feb 2004, the river was high after much rain and melt water, had a great day paddling the Aberfeldy / Grandtully section in my Gumotex Palava 2 man open inflatable canoe. We did this section twice and Grandtully was running high, a good grade 3. Second run down Grandtully we broke out into the large eddy behind the bridge, river left, to empty some water. Whilst peeling out for the rest of the ride we got knocked over and ended up swimming the final drop into a tree. This tree is river left and gave us quite a scare pinning us for what felt like a number of minutes. Recommend you stay mid river after the bridge to avoid repeating our experience.'

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: This section is similar to the previous section, with long calm stretches, however has a few more bigger rapids. Consider continuing onto the next section.

OTHER NOTES: Pretty well guaranteed water. See also Paul Cromey's article on paddling the Dochart and Tay.

CONTRIBUTED BY: St. Andrew's Uni, also Rob Bouchard.