Carrbridge community paths

Wel­come to Carrbridge

The pic­tur­esque vil­lage of Car­rbridge is fam­ous for its 18^th cen­tury pack­horse bridge, which stands high over the River Dul­nain in the centre of the village.

The bridge was built in 1717 to provide pas­sage — by foot or horse over the river. It was often used for funer­als to reach the Duthil church­yard, hence the bridge’s oth­er loc­al name of the ​‘coffin bridge’. In 1808 a plan was drawn up for the ​‘inten­ded vil­lage at the Bridge of Carr’ and the first build­ing com­pleted was an inn – and so began Carrbridge’s tra­di­tion of a good high­land welcome!

The vil­lage is sur­roun­ded by spec­tac­u­lar scenery and mature wood­land. The loc­al woods are explored by a net­work of way­marked trails, offer­ing fine views, abund­ant wild­life and a glimpse of loc­al history.

If you enjoyed explor­ing the paths around Car­rbridge, look out for oth­er path leaf­lets in this series to help you explore more of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park. Pick up a leaf­let loc­ally or down­load from cairngorms​.co​.uk

Paths around Carrbridge

Come and explore

Fäilte

Ellan Wood

Dis­cov­er more about Car­rbridge at car​rbridge​.com

To find pub­lic trans­port and act­ive travel routes between vil­lages down­load the GoHi app.

Vis­it­or inform­a­tion: Aviemore iCentre (01479 810 930) or vis​it​cairngorms​.com

Pro­duced by the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity in asso­ci­ation with the Car­rbridge com­munity. Images: Cov­er Ray Con­lon, Ellan Wood © Wee Epics, caper­cail­lie Luke Mas­sey / 2020VISION, red squir­rel Jane Hope, wood ant nest Jenni Stockan.

Woods and wildlife

The ancient pine­woods around Car­rbridge are home to an abund­ance of wild­life includ­ing red squir­rels, pine marten, Scot­tish cross­bills, cres­ted tits, caper­cail­lie and the elu­sive Scot­tish wild­cat. In spring and sum­mer the woods and riverb­anks are abund­ant with beau­ti­ful dis­plays of flowers.

Red squir­rel Capercaillie

Caper­cail­lie are huge, rare birds that feed on pine needles and insects found on blae­berry. They are very vul­ner­able to dis­turb­ance, so we can all help by not going look­ing for them and giv­ing the birds space.

Spurtles and saws

Car­rbridge hosts an eclect­ic pro­gramme of events, includ­ing two pop­u­lar annu­al com­pet­i­tions which attract com­pet­it­ors from all over the world.

Carve Car­rbridge The Scot­tish Open Chain­saw Carving Com­pet­i­tion sees inter­na­tion­al artists cre­ate stun­ning wooden sculp­tures from large logs while cap­tiv­at­ing audiences.

Many of these chain­saw sculp­tures can be seen around the vil­lage and in the woods by fol­low­ing the Carving Trail.

Down­load the Car­rbridge Carving Trail map and information

Slug­gan bridge

About three miles upriver from Car­rbridge is the his­tor­ic Slug­gan bridge, anoth­er lovely scen­ic bridge worth a vis­it. The river cross­ing here was a part of the mil­it­ary road net­work, with the first bridge being con­struc­ted in the 1760s. The ori­gin­al low, two-arched bridge was swept away in the great flood of 1829. It was then replaced by the high, single-span bridge, which still towers above the river today.

Wood ant nest

Look out for wood ant nests in the woods. These large, thatched mounds of pine needles, twigs and moss can be up to two metres tall and home to tens of thou­sands of work­er ants.

World Por­ridge Mak­ing Cham­pi­on­ships Pro­fes­sion­al chefs and home cooks alike com­pete in this cook-off to make the best tra­di­tion­al por­ridge using just oats, water and salt. The win­ner is awar­ded the Golden Spurtle trophy and title of ​‘World Por­ridge Mak­ing Champion’.

To reach Slug­gan bridge Fol­low along Sta­tion Road for two miles, before turn­ing off the road onto a track which forks off to the right and heads down­hill to the river and bridge. Dis­tance: 3 miles / 4.8 km, one-way. Not way­marked or signposted.

Paths around Carrbridge

We hope you enjoy explor­ing the trails around Car­rbridge, but please do so respons­ibly. The Nation­al Park is a spe­cial place with rare wild­life, some of which is sens­it­ive to dis­turb­ance. You can help pro­tect the loc­al wild­life by fol­low­ing all signs and keep­ing dogs close by (on a lead where requested).

SCOT­TISH OUT­DOOR ACCESS CODE outdooraccess-scotland.scot

River­side path A lovely route from the old pack­horse bridge fol­low­ing up the beau­ti­ful River Dul­nain. After cross­ing the river at the Ellan bridge return along Sta­tion Road or via the woods.

Mostly firm, flat gravel path with a short sec­tion of rough track on a mod­er­ate slope. Pave­ments and short road sec­tion. Nar­row bridge and board­walk. easy ¹¹⁄₂ miles 2.4 km Allow 1 hour

Calder­wood view­point A walk across the golf course and onto heath­er moor­land with fine views towards the Cairngorms. The walk is named after Pro­fess­or Calder­wood, a well-respec­ted Car­rbridge resident.

Track, steep in places, rough hill path on upper sec­tion. ¹¹⁄₂ miles 2.4 km Allow mod­er­ate ¹¹⁄₂ hours Dis­tance / time includes return to car park.

road track path toi­lets car park bus stop view­point inform­a­tion point Nation­al Cycle Route

Glen­char­noch loop A loop around the lovely pine­woods of Glen­char­noch (In Gael­ic — Glen of the her­oes). Watch out for the fine wooden sculp­tures and carved seats along the trail. More about Glen­char­noch at wood​landtrust​.org​.uk.

¹⁄₂ miles 0.8 km Firm gravel paths, mostly flat with some short mod­er­ate to steep slopes. Allow mod­er­ate ¹⁄₂ hour

Ellan wood cir­cu­lar A great cir­cu­lar route through mixed wood­land and past wet­land. ​‘Ellan’ comes from the Gael­ic ​‘ailean’ mean­ing a green or plain, which prob­ably refers to the land adja­cent to the river

NORTH

Rail­way path A cir­cu­lar walk through the forest passing beside the rail­way line.

Forest track and nar­row­er paths, some rough and may be muddy after rain. Board­walks and steps. 1 mile 1.6 km Allow mod­er­ate ³⁄₄ hour

Mostly forest tracks, rel­at­ively flat, some rough and muddy sec­tions. easy ¹¹⁄₂ miles 2.4 km Allow ³⁄₄ hour

Carr plant­a­tion trail A cir­cu­lar route through a mature forest of Scots pine. The poor­house was built c.1864 to accom­mod­ate the poor of the parish.

Mostly forest tracks and paths, one short road sec­tion. Rel­at­ively flat, paths may be nar­row and rough in places. 3 miles 4.8 km Allow mod­er­ate 2 hours Based on Ord­nance Sur­vey map­ping with the per­mis­sion of the Con­trol­ler of HMSO © Crown Copy­right 2023. All rights reserved. Ord­nance Sur­vey licence num­ber 100040965. Map and text © Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity 2023.