Scottish forest in national park with historic gold mine for sale for £2m

Leitters Forest, between Balquhidder and Lochearnhead in northern Stirlingshire, has come on the market for offers over £1,950,000.

The 120-hectare site is located in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and has views down Loch Voil and up to the head of nearby Loch Earn.

The forest is home to a high proportion of Sitka spruce, used for the timber trade, and sits on a historic gold mine, according to Landfor, the property agent handling the sale.

Part of its boundary runs along the A84 road providing access to the timber markets in the region and further afield. The perimeter of the forest is deer fenced to provide protection from excessive deer browsing on the younger restocked areas.

Sporting rights are also included in the property sale, with the potential for red and roe deer stalking as well as rough shooting of occasional wild game birds in season, the advert said.

The stalking rights are leased for deer control purposes until March 31 next year.

The mineral rights are also included in terms of the title with the exception of those reserved by statute, the property agents said. The agent said little was known about the history of the gold mine on site.

Patrick Porteous, of Landfor, described the forest as an interesting purchase because it had its first crop felled and had been replanted in stages, with timber available in the next 20 to 30 years.

He said the property was suitable for a buyer looking for short and long-term investment given the different stages the trees were planted at.

The forest was originally established in the mid-1950s, according to the sale brochure, with a substantial crop of Sitka spruce and hybrid larch.

Conifer plantations, including varieties such as the non-native Sitka spruce, have drawn controversy due to questions over their impact on the environment and biodiversity.

The forests have been referred to as “serried ranks” that create a desert when it comes to wildlife, given heavy shedding of spruce needles and a lack of light for any understory.

Industry leaders, however, have said Sitka spruce remains one of the best species of tree for the timber trade.

Mr Porteous said due to a slowdown and lack of planting of trees in some areas across Scotland 15-plus years ago, the country was looking at a timber shortage by 2035.

“I know people are quite anti-Sitka, but we need to keep the cycle up,” he said.