Aviemore community paths leaflet

Wel­come to Aviemore

Nestled at the heart of Strath­spey, Aviemore is a vibrant and excit­ing place to visit.

Aviemore is a great place to make con­nec­tions and is a real hub for all sorts of out­door activities.

But turn around and look in any dir­ec­tion and you’ll see a back­drop of high moun­tains, forests and the River Spey. This makes the area around Aviemore a great place for wildlife.

So come and enjoy a walk.

Cairngorms Paths

Aviemore

Paths

Explore Aviemore

For inform­a­tion on paths, loc­al events, facil­it­ies and accommodation:

Aviemore iCentre Aviemore: 01479 810930

Use­ful web­sites: www​.aviemore​com​munity​coun​cil​.org www​.vis​it​cairngorms​.com www​.cairngorms​.co​.uk www.nature.scot www​.nnr​-scot​land​.org​.uk

If you enjoyed using the ​‘Aviemore Paths leaf­let’ look out for oth­er com­munity paths leaf­lets to help you explore more of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park.

Pho­to­graphs: John Gri­er­son and Richard Eldridge

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Aviemore Paths

Start­ing in the centre of the vil­lage, paths lead out of the vil­lage with fine views, abund­ant wild­life and rich loc­al history.

We hope the selec­tion of walks in this leaf­let whets your appet­ite to come back for more.

A well con­nec­ted place

Mod­ern day Aviemore is situ­ated between the A9 and the main High­land rail­way line. Pri­or to the arrival of the rail­ways, Aviemore was little more than a farm and an inn.

This all changed with the arrival of the rail­ways which brought tour­ists to enjoy the fresh air, high moun­tains and rivers.

Aviemore has grown to become a major High­land hol­i­day resort and all year round des­tin­a­tion with a wide range of winter and sum­mer activities.

As one of the country’s top ski areas and most pop­u­lar sum­mer hol­i­day areas in the High­lands, Aviemore is ​‘alive’ all year round.

The rail­way also brought changes to the forests of the area where once logs were floated down­stream, they were then loaded onto rail wag­ons for trans­port all over the world. The Strath­spey Rail­way con­tin­ues to pre­serve this rail­way her­it­age and runs steam trains from Aviemore through to Broomhill.

Aviemore has come a long way since its early start as a rail­way junc­tion in the 19^th cen­tury and the redevel­op­ment of the resort since the start of the Mil­len­ni­um, has seen both res­id­en­tial and vis­it­or num­bers rising strongly again.

As a hub for rail, road and river, Aviemore has everything the mod­ern vis­it­or needs.

Stand fast Craigellachie

Once the battle cry of the Clan Grant, Craigel­lach­ie is a wild­life haven that echoes with the rous­ing cries of the per­eg­rine fal­con and the mew­ing of buzzards.

A walk to the sum­mit gives you one of the best views in the Park, tak­ing in the vast Cale­do­ni­an pine forest of Rothiemurchus and Glen­more encircled by the deep cor­ries of the north­ern Cairngorms.

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Aviemore

Paths

This leaf­let has been developed in part­ner­ship with Aviemore and Vicin­ity Com­munity Coun­cil and the Aviemore Busi­ness Association.

SCOT­TISH OUT­DOOR ACCESS CODE

half mile one kilometre

Based on Ord­nance Sur­vey map­ping with the per­mis­sion of the Con­trol­ler of HMSO. Crown Copy­right 2022. All rights reserved. Ord­nance Sur­vey Licence Num­ber 100040965. Text : CNPA 2022.

- View­point Trail

Climb­ing high above the woods this trail will take you around the rim of Craigel­lach­ie to one of the best views in the Park over Aviemore towards the North­ern Cor­ries. Times are there and back.

Rocky paths with pro­longed, steep sec­tions. Sev­er­al uneven stages of bare rock and steps. Can be muddy in places after rain­fall. ²³⁄₄ miles / 4.5 km Allow strenu­ous 2 hours

- Buz­zard Trail

Climb­ing high­er along the flanks of Craigel­lach­ie this trail gives great views down Strath­spey and across to Meall a’ Bhua­chaille before return­ing by the old reservoir.

Rocky paths with sec­tions of steep and rocky steps. Path can be nar­row and muddy in places. Includes a step­ping stone over a stream. I miles / 1.6 km Allow strenu­ous ³⁄₄ hour

- Wood­land Trail

Tak­ing in the lower part of the reserve the route weaves its way through birch woods rich with flowers in the spring and summer.

Mostly smooth, sur­faced path with a few uneven steep sec­tions. ¹⁄₂ miles / 800 m Allow mod­er­ate ¹⁄₄ hour

- Lochan Trail

Start­ing at the entrance to the Nation­al Nature Reserve (the A9 under­pass) this short trail takes you around the banks of Loch Puladdern.

Smooth, sur­faced path with gentle gradi­ents. ¹⁄₂ miles / 800 m Allow easy ¹⁄₄ hour

- Aviemore Orbital

A rich and var­ied trail tak­ing in Milton Woods and some of Aviemore’s hid­den her­it­age. The sec­tion through the Dal­faber hous­ing estate is not waymarked.

Earthy, gravel and tar­mac paths with gen­er­ally gentle, but occa­sion­ally mod­er­ate slopes. Firm with some uneven sec­tions, occa­sion­ally nar­row. Two main road cross­ings. One short, stony, nar­row, uneven sec­tion with drop into water. ³³⁄₄ miles / 6 km Allow mod­er­ate 22 hours

- River­side Park Trail

An easy loop through River­side Park with views over the River Spey.

Smooth, sur­faced path with gentle gradi­ents. ³⁄₄ miles / 1.4 km Allow easy ¹⁄₂ hour