Caithness And Its Trees
Q) Does the county of Caithness in Scotland have many trees in it?
When you compare Caithness with most other Scottish counties it has very few trees overall — its landscape is famously barren, treeless, open, mostly shaped by peatlands and winds. Small pockets of woodland do exist.
🌾 Why Caithness has so few trees
Multiple landscape sources describe Caithness as having a “stark simplicity” with wide, open plains and peat-covered lowlands, shaped by glaciation and strong coastal winds. This creates conditions where large forests do not naturally develop, and the county is visually defined by its open horizons rather than woodland.
The dominant terrain — Devonian sandstone plains, peatlands, and exposed coastal cliffs — supports heath, bog, and grassland far more readily than tree cover. This is why Caithness is often compared to the landscapes of Orkney and Shetland: big skies, long sightlines, and minimal woodland.
🌲 But there are some trees left
Although the county is not heavily wooded, there are pockets of woodland, usually in sheltered valleys, estate plantings, or managed areas. The Caithness Biodiversity Group documents examples such as:
Native woodland fragments
Willow stands
Woodland near Berriedale and Latheronwheel
Small riparian woods along burns and sheltered glens
These are small, scattered, and not representative of the wider landscape.
🌳 The exception: Langwell Forest
One of the few substantial wooded areas is Langwell Forest, which covers a series of ridges and valleys in the south of the county. It is a managed forest rather than natural ancient woodland, but it stands out because Caithness otherwise has so little tree cover.
🧭 Summa
Overall tree cover: very low
Landscape character: open, windswept, peatland-dominated
Woodland: small pockets + one major managed forest (Langwell)
Why: geology, climate exposure, peat soils limit natural tree growth, the highland clearances.
