The Great North Road

Ori­gin­ally a mil­it­ary road built by Gen­er­al Wade, the road through the vil­lage became a part of the Great North Road, which in turn became the A9. Before the com­ing of the bypass in the 1970s Dal­whin­nie was an import­ant stop for the more mod­ern trav­el­ler, and what are now houses along the main street were once shops and tea rooms.

Drovers

Loch Ericht on a still day can seem peace­ful and serene, but travel back 200 years and you would have been greeted with the sights and smells of herds of cattle being driv­en down to the great mar­kets of the Lowlands.

Com­ing through Feagour to the west and Etter­idge to the north, drovers would bring their herds to rest and drink at the loch­side before set­ting up camp them­selves for the night. The toll house where they would pay a penny to take their anim­als to the loch­side is now a private house in the village.

Cairngorms Paths

Dal­whin­nie Trails

Explore the highest vil­lage in the Highlands

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

Tour­ist Inform­a­tion Point notice board at hall

Use­ful web sites: www​.vis​it​cairngorms​.com www​.cairngorms​.co​.uk

If you enjoyed using ​‘Dal­whin­nie Trails’ then look out for oth­er Com­munity Paths leaf­lets to help you explore more of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park.

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Dal­whin­nie Trails

Wel­come to Dalwhinnie

Sur­roun­ded by moun­tains and at the head of Loch Ericht, Dal­whin­nie at a height of 351 metres lays claim to be the highest vil­lage in the Scot­tish High­lands. Although with a year-round aver­age tem­per­at­ure of just over 6 degrees Dal­whin­nie is one of the cold­est inhab­ited places in the Brit­ish Isles, the vil­lage has always prided itself on offer­ing a warm wel­come to trav­el­lers, a tra­di­tion that it main­tains to the present day.

The name Dal­whin­nie itself reflects some­thing of that tra­di­tion, com­ing either from the Gael­ic Dail-chuin­nidh, ​“war­ri­ors mead­ow”, Dail Coin­neamh, ​“mead­ow of the meet­ing place” or even Dail Cin­neadh the ​“mead­ow of the clans­men”. Dal­whinne was where two import­ant drove roads met, and drovers would stop to rest their cattle before begin­ning the often-dif­fi­cult cross­ing of the Drumochter pass to the south.

We hope that this map will help you to enjoy your vis­it to Dal­whin­nie, and to per­haps explore a little of the village’s long and var­ied history.

This leaf­let has been pro­duced by the Dal­whin­nie Community.

Coachan Wood View Point

A chal­len­ging walk up a steep hill with reward­ing views up the pass of Drumochter.

Dis­tance: up to 31½ miles (there and back) Approx­im­ate time: up to 2 hours Start: Vil­lage Hall Ter­rain: Tus­socky grass, no paths in places although routes marked, some steep sections.

Dis­til­lery Walk

Dis­tance: 1 mile (there and back) Approx­im­ate time: 30 – 45 minutes Start: Vil­lage Hall Ter­rain: Pavement

Forest Walks

Dis­tance: up to 31/½ miles Approx­im­ate time: up to 2 hours Start: Vil­lage Hall Ter­rain: Tus­socky grass, no paths in places although routes marked, some steep sections.

Loch Ericht Walk

This is a straight­for­ward walk around Dal­whin­nie and Loch Ericht with fine views of the loch and the moun­tains. Take care when cross­ing the rail­way line.

Dis­tance: ¹¹⁄₂ miles Approx­im­ate time: 30 – 45 minutes Start: Vil­lage Hall Ter­rain: Pave­ments then wide estate tracks, gentle gradients.