Cairngorms National Park: A Selection of Walks
The second part of our Scotland trip was based in the Cairngorms National Park, the UK's largest national park. The scenery and landscape were very different to Skye, and so provided us a refreshing new area to explore, mostly by foot. This blog will summarise the various hikes we did over the week along with my thoughts.
Walks & Hikes
- Loch Morlich
Loch Morlich is a lake near the town of Aviemore and provides an easy and gentle walking route around it. The path mainly runs through the forest surrounding the loch, so despite the misty and rainy weather we had it provided shelter on the walk. Allow no more than half a day to complete this. For the more adventurous, there were mountain bike trails and watersports offered on the loch.
2. Glentrium Forest Walk Spur
Glentrium is home to the Centre of Scotland Stone, marking the geographic centre of the Scottish mainland. This short walk of 1 mile took us up a steep track to a viewpoint. The summit has a great panoramic view of the Cairngorms. Whilst this was a short hike, the path can be quite muddy depending on the weather so bring appropriate clothing and footwear.
3. Kingussie Paths - Creag Bheag
The town of Kingussie has a variety of routes to enjoy, from gentle strolls to stunning hilltop viewpoints. The walk we decided to do was to the top of Creag Bheag, giving great panoramic views over the town, the distant Cairngorms and Loch Gynack. Allow half a day for this one, it has fairly steep climbs and is longer than the walk at Glentrium. Coming back down from the top, we joined the circular golf course route to make our way back down to the car park. I enjoy hill walking to a summit more than a flat forest loop, as the views from the top often provide a great reward for the climb :)
4. Avimore - Viewpoint Trail
The town of Avimore was larger than I expected, having visited the above places prior. There were a lot more shops, a train station and a youth hostel to stay at, but I also think the town was more for tourists too. The viewpoint trail took us through the woods into the Craigellachie National Nature Reserve, to some of the best views of the park. The walk will take you about 2-3 hours in total.
5. Dalwhinnie - Coachan Wood Viewpoint
Claimed to be the high village in the highlands, at an altitude of 351m above sea level, as well as having the highest whiskey distillery, the name of the town Dalwhinnie translates to 'meeting place' from Gaelic. It prides itself on offering a warm welcome to travellers, and with an average annual temp of 6 degrees C, it is one of the coldest inhabited places on the British Isles. Coachan Wood Viewpoint walk used to start close by to Dalwhinnie Railway Station, however due to safety reasons the walking route was closed off. This meant a slight detour in our path to a crossing point further down the line, after which we re-joined the original path. This walk offered a bit of everything, from traversing through thick forest, boggy marshes and hill walking. The path is loosely marked, making this hike one which required more navigation - this added to the adventure of it. As we neared the viewpoint, we did find there were a LOT of flies in the forest, so be sure to move quickly through it and cover your skin as much as possible. The viewpoint is just above the forest, letting you admire how far you've come and the village in the distance.
6. Pattack Falls
Based in Glentrium, this was a very short walk to admire Pattack Falls (literally 200m!), although there are longer route available. We had a walk along one of the other routes, but found it to be quite obstructed by ferns, fallen trees and rocks, so had to be quite careful. You can to Pattack falls in 1-2 hours max, it doesn't require a whole day.
That was a whistlestop tour of the walks and hikes I got up to whilst I was in the Cairngorms. They were all different and spotlighted unique things about the national park, be it the plants, lochs or wildlife. The walks above also provided a good mix of difficulty, length, ascent and time required. That concludes my penultimate blog of my time in Scotland, thanks for reading!
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