Kincraig community paths leaflet

Wel­come to Kin­craig Ceann na Creige – Head of the Crag

I spent my form­at­ive years as an out­door writer liv­ing in Kin­craig and I can’t think of a bet­ter vil­lage to inspire the cre­at­ive juices. Set in a mag­ni­fi­cent loc­a­tion at the foot of the Cairngorms’ ​‘jew­el’ Glen Fesh­ie, and on the shores of won­der­ful Loch Insh there are glor­i­ous walks and views a plenty.

The vil­lage, formerly Boat of Insh because a ferry ran across the Spey here, is rich in his­tory as any vis­it to the wee church will tell you. There are claims this is one of the old­est places of wor­ship in Scot­land. It was a pagan wor­ship site before St Adam­nan claimed it for the newly fledged Chris­ti­an church of Columba. Here it’s claimed he rang a bell to call wild swans to wor­ship, some of which were the legendary Swan Chil­dren of Lir.

Per­haps it’s no coin­cid­ence that today Loch Insh is one of the prin­cip­al win­ter­ing places for whoop­er swans from Ice­land and Greenland.

Camer­on McNeish

Cairngorms Paths Kin­craig Paths

Explore Badenoch

Torr Alvie

Boast­ing one of the best views over Badenoch and Strath­spey, this beau­ti­ful wooded walk takes you to the Duke of Gordon’s monument.

Var­ied sur­faces, some nar­row, rough and grassy but usu­ally dry. strenu­ous ¹³⁄₄ miles / 2.7 km. Allow ¹⁄₂ hours. Dis­tance and time is for one-way.

“I love this little vil­lage with all its hid­den paths, twists and turns, its wild places. The ebb and flow of the liv­ing Spey through its marsh­land. The oak woods, copse of eld­er, flut­ter­ing birches. A story around every corner.” Ann Vastano

Far­leit­ter Crag Trail

Tall trees, craggy rock out­crops and superb views of the Spey val­ley and the Glen Fesh­ie hills.

A hilly route, with many long steep slopes. The sur­face is gen­er­ally firm and smooth, with occa­sion­al uneven and loose sec­tions. strenu­ous 2/2 miles / 4 km. Allow ¹⁄₂ hours

Uath Lochans Trail

A magic­al mix­ture of wood­land and spark­ling lochans.

Mostly gentle gradi­ents with some short mod­er­ately steep sec­tions. A gen­er­ally firm gravel path, often nar­row, with sec­tions of board­walk. mod­er­ate ¹⁄₂ miles / 2.4 km. Allow I hour Way­marked white on the ground.

Kin­craig Paths

Leau­lt Trail

Views of the hills all round, some nice broadleaved wood­land and a work­ing farm.

Route includes grassy trail over rough and uneven ground, roads and pave­ments. Some short mod­er­ate slopes. mod­er­ate 3 miles / 4.5 km. Allow 2 hours

Loch­side Loop

Beau­ti­ful loch­side trail and broadleaved woodland.

Mix­ture of pave­ments and grassy trail over rough and uneven ground. Some short mod­er­ate slopes. mod­er­ate ¹⁄₂ miles / 2.5 km. Allow I hour

Spey­side Way – North Loop

A scen­ic walk through oak, aspen, birch and pine forest with spec­tac­u­lar views over the River Spey.

Mostly gentle gradi­ents with some short mod­er­ately steep sec­tions. Pave­ments or gen­er­ally firm gravel path mod­er­ate ²³⁄₄ miles / 4.5 km. Allow 2 hours

Spey­side Way – South Path

A gentle walk along the tree-lined road rewar­ded with loch­side views at either end.

Pave­ments, road or gen­er­ally firm gravel tracks. Dis­tance and time is for one way. easy ³⁄₄ mile / 1.1 km. Allow ¹⁄₂ hour

Frank Bruce Sculp­ture Trail

A lovely easy walk through tall trees, inter­spersed with an extraordin­ary series of wood and stone sculp­tures on Scot­tish cul­ture by Frank Bruce.

A firm smooth path; gen­er­ally flat with some short gentle gradi­ents. easy I mile / 1.6 km. Allow ³⁄₄ hour

River Fesh­ie Trail

A nar­row nat­ur­al path along the river. There are lots of places to stop and watch the water.

A mostly nar­row grassy trail with rough and uneven rocky sec­tions. Can be wet and muddy after rain. Con­tains short fairly steep sec­tions. Nar­row bridges. strenu­ous ¹¹⁄₄ miles / 2 km. Allow I hour

Feshiebru­ach Trail

A peace­ful walk through mixed pine forest, vibrant with blae­berry and heath­er. Keep a look out for red squirrels.

Firm gravel tracks and nar­row­er, unsur­faced paths. Can be muddy in places. Mod­er­ate slopes. mod­er­ate ³⁄₄ miles / I km. Allow ¹⁄₂ hours

Inshriach Forest Loop

A cir­cu­lar walk through forest, with views to the west­ern Cairngorm Mountains.

Firm gravel track. Some gentle and mod­er­ate slopes. mod­er­ate ³⁄₄ miles / 5.3 km. Allow 2 hours