Totem pole

Standing tall beside the A9 just outside Dunkeld, this totem pole cuts an oddly striking figure against the Perthshire landscape. It's not what you'd expect to find in the Scottish Highlands - a First Nations monument planted firmly in the heart of Tayside - but that's rather what makes it worth a stop.

The pole itself tells the story of cultural exchange and artistic merit. It's genuinely impressive up close, carved with the kind of detail that rewards a proper look rather than a quick photograph from the car park. You're not scaling any mountains here or sitting down for hours - this is a 10-minute halt at most, the sort of thing that breaks up a long drive north perfectly well.

It works brilliantly if you're based at one of the nearby caravan parks, particularly Inver Mill Farm just down the road. Both parks sit close enough that you could swing by without adding much time to your itinerary. The pole sits alongside other Dunkeld attractions, so it's the kind of thing you'd tick off while exploring the town's better-known sights rather than make a dedicated trip for.

Historically minded visitors will find the cultural story interesting - why it's here, what it represents, how it came to stand in this particular corner of Scotland. Younger children might be less captivated unless they're into carving and craft. But if you're passing through and appreciate roadside art with genuine substance, it deserves five minutes of your time. Free to view, naturally, and there's something rather British about that - an unexpected, un-hyped monument that simply stands there, asking nothing of you but attention.