Montrose Basin

Important notice

Update November 2024: The Bridge of Dun is closed as it is still being repaired.

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Montrose Basin is an enclosed estuary of the river South Esk covering 750 hectares of tidal mudflats offering feeding and roosting ground to a plethora of bird species.

In autumn and winter, the Basin is home to over 100,000 migratory birds including pink-footed geese, wigeon and a variety of other waterfowl and waders, while during the spring and summer months the estuary supports various breeding colonies including sand martins, common terns and eider.

Our four-star visitor centre offers a great day out for all the family in Angus.

Join today to get free access to all our visitor centres and help protect Scotland’s wildlife for the future.


The visitor centre is open daily, 10:30am-5pm. There are no walks that take place from the visitor centre car park. 

Please note that dogs are allowed on the reserve walks, but not inside the visitor centre itself.


Why visit?

The Montrose Basin Visitor Centre offers panoramic views across the reserve. Telescopes and binoculars will be available for you to see the wildlife up close.

We serve hot drinks, and we have a small wildlife-themed gift shop with a variety of products for all ages.

A range of children’s activities are always available in the centre.

Best time to visit?

  • May to Sept for fishing osprey
  • Oct to Feb for wintering geese
  • Sept to Feb for kingfisher
  • Any time for seals, wildfowl and waders

Visit for:

  • birdwatching
  • coasts
  • geology
  • scenery
  • mammals

Other information

You can find out more about Montrose Basin in episode five of our Words of the Wild podcast series.

Events

Please keep an eye on the events page or our Facebook page for upcoming events.

Discover the Basin with one of our self-guided audio tours

If you would like to learn more about the Basin, our audio tours are a great place to start. Choose from four tours available through izi.TRAVEL. These tours can be accessed online or through the izi.TRAVEL mobile app available for iPhone and Android.

Take an audio tour

Facilities

Hover for more information

VISITING THE RESERVE

How to get there

Directions

By road, the reserve can be located on the A92 Montrose to Arbroath road, just 1 mile out of town. The visitor centre is well signposted and free parking is available. There are also frequent train services from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and all intermediate stations to Montrose. Alternatively, you can reach the visitor centre by taking a bus from Montrose town centre to Ferryden (then a short walk), or from Montrose town centre to Arbroath/Dundee with a request to stop at the top of the drive.

Get directions

Getting onto the reserve

There are several access points onto the reserve. The walks do not start from the visitor centre car park due to the tidal nature and size of the reserve. A map can be collected from the visitor centre during its opening hours, or you can follow this link.

Access restrictions

The visitor centre is wheelchair accessible.

The visitor centre has restricted opening hours during the winter.

For a full access guide, click here. Please note this access guide was written pre-COVID-19.

Nearest town
Montrose (1 mi / 1.6 km)
OS grid ref
NO700564
Landranger map
54

VISITOR CENTRE

Montrose Basin visitor centre

Opening times

Mid-February to 31 October: open 7 days a week, 10:30am-5pm
1 November to mid-February: open Friday-Monday, 10:30am-4pm

Admission

Adults: £5.50
Concession: £5.00
Members: FREE
Children (under 16 years): FREE

Address: Montrose Basin, Rossie Braes, Angus DD10 9TA

Telephone
01674 676 336

MONTROSE BASIN BLOG

Get the latest from the Montrose Basin visitor centre

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Unexpected Geese

Unexpected GeeseMontrose Basin attracts tens of thousands of pink-footed geese every year, with numbers sometimes peaking at over 80,000 in Autumn. Now that we’re into the Winter season, many of these geese have headed further south in the UK, but over 10,000 are still roosting on the Basin every night. But occasionally (like right now!), other – rarer – species can be seen on the Basin, hanging around with the thousands of pinkies. At the visitor centre when we’re telling people…

Kingfisher Fights & FAQ

Kingfisher Fights & FAQWe’re incredibly lucky at Montrose Basin to be able to see kingfishers on a daily basis outside of their breeding season. A healthy population of kingfishers breed up the River South Esk, and then venture off to find nearby wintering territories from late July onwards.  In fact, we’ve seen a kingfisher from the visitor centre windows 28 out of 30 days this past month! So when people visit us at this time of year, not only are we able to…

Montrose Basin

Education

If you are interested in organising an educational visit to Montrose Basin, please contact the visitor centre on 01674 676 336 or montrosebasin@scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk for more information on costs and activities.

FURTHER READING

About Montrose Basin

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