The Route
The Speyside Way & Cairngorms Trail starts at Buckie on the coast of the Moray Firth, a large roughly triangular inlet (or firth) northwest of Inverness. The trail follows the coast to the mouth of the river Spey at Spey Bay. Here the route turns south and follows the course of the river to the town of Fochabers and onwards past Rothes, located on the other side of the river, to Craigellachie. Rothes is home to a number of well known distilleries, such as Glen Grant, and the famous Macallan distillery is located near Craigellachie.
At Craigellachie many hikers pay a visit to the fascinating Speyside Cooperage, where whisky barrels are made and repaired using traditional methods, before taking a detour on the Dufftown loop, which passes the Glenfiddich Distillery and Balvenie castle. The Speyside Way then continues along the Spey past Aberlour, home to Walker’s famous shortbread, towards Ballindaloch.
Here many hikers will take another detour which crosses some higher ground as it leads from Tomintoul to Glenlivet, with its distillery, and back to Ballindaloch. After Ballindaloch the trail again shadows the River Spey on its way to Grantown-on-Spey where the route enters the Strathspey, or wide valley of the Spey. From Grantown the route leaves the river Spey for a while and passes through Nethy Bridge and close to Loch Garten, with its Osprey Visitor Centre. From Boat of Garten the trail follows the tracks of the Strathspey Steam Railway to Aviemore and you might see passing steam trains.
Aviemore has been the finishing (or start) point of the Speyside Way & Cairngorms Trail for many years. It is located at the edge of the Cairngorm Mountains which form part of the UK’s largest national park. The town is famous for outdoor sports and is known as the winter sports capital of Scotland. The route is currently being extended past Aviemore to Kincraig and onwards past Loch Insh to Ruthven Barracks near Kingussie. However, at the time of our last visit in early 2019 this work had not been completed yet.
Terrain Overview
For much of the route the Speyside Way & Cairngorms Trail follows fairly level and well-maintained footpaths and tracks. They often run beside the river and on former railway tracks and pass through woodlands and heather moors with good trail surface throughout.
While the route slowly ascends from the mouth of the Spey towards Aviemore the climb is generally slow and gentle. The main route stays in the valley of the Spey and for the most part looks towards the hills and mountains rather than climbing into them. The exceptions are the Dufftown Loop and the Tomintoul Spur which are more undulating and cross higher and, in places, more exposed ground. But here as well the paths are good and the climbs are short and not difficult.
Aggregate ascent over the whole route is approximately 2,400m, and there are almost no sustained or steep climbs. The highest point on the Speyside Way is Carn Daimh with 570m above sea level. It is located between Tomintoul and Glenlivet, on the wildest and most spectacular section of the trail.
Elevation Profile (Main route, not including the Dufftown Loop and Tomintoul Spur)
