Deeside Walks – Clachnaben, Glen Tanar and the Linn of Dee
Two days by car, from Aberdeen to Braemar.
The route
Deeside is walking country, and these two days take in four of its best-known walks, in the order the roads meet them.
The first day leaves Aberdeen by the South Deeside Road for Glen Dye and the climb up Clachnaben, to the granite tor on its top that has long been a landmark from the sea. Lunch is at Finzean's farm shop, looking back at the hill, and then the road runs west to Glen Tanar, where waymarked paths wind through old Caledonian pines past a little Victorian chapel. The night is near Ballater. The second day drives up the Dee, past Crathie and through Braemar, as far as the road goes, to the Linn of Dee, where the river pours through a slot of rock. From there it walks up Glen Lui to Derry Lodge, with the Cairngorms opening ahead. It ends back in Braemar, for lunch and the village.
Before you go
Book a night near Ballater
Day one ends in Glen Tanar and day two sets off up the Dee, so the night is near Ballater, about half an hour from Glen Tanar. Summer beds go early: book once your dates are set.
BallaterDarroch LeargA hotel
13 miles awayTornahatnachSleeps 5
13 miles awayGreenstyleSleeps 6
13 miles awayDalgrassickSleeps 4
13 miles awayHome FarmSleeps 6
13 miles awayChapeltonSleeps 6
18 miles awayNo 4 Steading CottageSleeps 7
18 miles awayNorth Lodge and River CabinSleeps 6
StrachanCuttieshillockSleeps 6
StrachanGamekeeper’s CottageSleeps 6
StrachanNo 2 Steading Cottage at GlendyeSleeps 4
StrachanThe Coach HouseSleeps 12
StrachanThe Corner HouseSleeps 6
18 miles awayThe Bothy, GlendyeSleeps 2
StrachanThe Hay Loft at GlendyeSleeps 4
18 miles awayNo 5 Steading CottageSleeps 7
24 miles awayLarch HouseSleeps 6Book a bike each for Glen Lui, if you'd rather ride
Book bikes ahead in summer from the Bike Station in Ballater, where the night is, or Braemar Mountain Sports in Braemar; the Bike Station's day hire is back by 7pm.
Book Finzean Farm Shop and Tearoom
Book a table for lunch online or on 01330 850710; the patio takes walk-ins.
Day one
Clachnaben
A hill and a wood on the south side of the Dee. The morning climbs Clachnaben to the granite tor on its summit, and after lunch at Finzean the afternoon is an easy hour among the old pines of Glen Tanar. Set off from Aberdeen at eight.
2 hr 9 min at the wheelAbout 54 miles by carAbout 6 miles on foot
Clachnaben Walk, Glen Dye
A walk
The drive from Aberdeen takes 60 minutes, by the South Deeside Road to the Bridge of Feugh, just south of Banchory, and on south by the B974 through Strachan. Park in the free forest car park in an old quarry, just north of the Bridge of Dye. It takes about 15 cars and gets busy on fine days, so come early. The walk goes through the plantation, over the glen bottom and up past Miller's Bog, which is often wet underfoot.
1 hr 30 min on foot
Clachnaben
It's about 90 minutes' walk to the top, nearly 5 km with over 500 metres of climb, the last on pitched stone steps towards the granite tor: allow up to two hours. An old rhyme calls Clachnaben and Bennachie 'twa landmarks frae the sea'. The top, round the back of the tor, is an easy scramble over small rocks above a big drop; in wind or wet, stop at its foot. Back the same way: three to four hours in all.
1 hr 5 min on foot back to the car, then 17 min by car
Finzean Farm Shop and Tearoom
A café
Finzean's farm shop and tearoom is 17 minutes' drive away, back up the B974 and over the back road to Whitestone, then west along the South Deeside Road. Lunch is served from noon to half past three every day, with soups, sandwiches and daily specials, and there's ice cream made on the farm. Sit out on the patio, where dogs are welcome, and look back across the Feugh valley to Clachnaben's tor. The shop sells deli things, cakes and traybakes for later.
25 min by car
Glen Tanar
An attraction
Drive 25 minutes west along the South Deeside Road to Bridge o' Ess, where the single-track glen road turns off to the Braeloine car park, with the visitor centre across the old Bridge of Tanar. The car park has a charge. Two waymarked paths of about an hour leave from there through the Caledonian pines, past St Lesmo's, a Victorian chapel: one to the Fairy Lochan, one up to the Knockie viewpoint. Ballater is half an hour on, west by Dinnet.
If it rains
Clachnaben's top is open to the weather. In rain the stone steps and the rocks of the tor are slippery, and in low cloud or a strong wind there's no view and the scramble is no place to be: walk up through the woods as far as the edge of the trees, and turn back there. Or give the morning to Glen Tanar instead, where the Old Pines path, 8.3 km and about two hours, stays under the trees and never far from the Water of Tanar. The visitor centre at Braeloine has displays and a roof.
Worth a detour
- Cambus o’ May Suspension Bridge
On the A93 between Dinnet and Ballater, park by the old station at Cambus o' May and walk a few minutes down to the footbridge that hangs over the Dee. It adds no driving: give it a quarter of an hour on the way to the night.
Day two
Glen Lui
Up the Dee as far as the road goes, past Crathie and through Braemar to the Linn of Dee, where the river pours through a gorge. From there a track runs north up Glen Lui to Derry Lodge, with the Cairngorms opening ahead, and the day ends back in Braemar. Set off from Ballater at half past eight.
55 min at the wheelAbout 30 miles by carAbout 7 miles on foot
40 min by car
Linn of Dee
An attraction
It's 40 minutes' drive up the A93 past Crathie and through Braemar, then west on the narrow Linn of Dee road by Inverey. Cross the bridge at the Linn to the National Trust for Scotland's car park just beyond it: £5 a car, free to members. Across the road the Dee narrows into a slot of rock under the bridge, a favourite picnic place of Queen Victoria's. The Trust's path by the gorge takes about 15 minutes. Keep children back from the edge; when the river is high, look from the bridge.
About 1 hr 17 min on foot
Derry Lodge
It's about 6 km on foot to Derry Lodge. From the car park a path and a boardwalk lead through the pines to the estate track up Glen Lui, which crosses the Lui Water at the Black Bridge and climbs gently as the Cairngorms open ahead. The old shooting lodge is boarded up in its ring of pines; rest by the footbridge beyond it before turning back. Back the same way: about 11.5 km, three to three and a half hours in all. Or ride: there's a bike rack at the lodge.
1 hr 15 min on foot back to the car, then 15 min by car
Braemar
An attraction
Braemar is 15 minutes' drive back down the road. After a morning in the glen, lunch is at the Bothy café by the Clunie, or at Gordon's Tea Room on Mar Road, a few steps from the Fife Arms, from Wednesday to Sunday. Then there's time for the shops and a look at the Clunie Water running down through the village. Braemar Castle stands just east of the village on the A93, on the way home: Ballater is 25 minutes' drive from here, and Aberdeen just under two hours.
If it rains
Glen Lui has no shelter between the car park and the lodge, and in low cloud the mountains ahead are hidden. In a downpour, keep to the Linn and the National Trust for Scotland's Glen Lui trail, about 2.8 km and an hour and a quarter, through the pines to the old salmon ladder on the Lui and back. The Linn itself is at its most dramatic when the river is high, but look from the bridge, never from the rocks. Braemar Castle, just east of the village, is all under a roof: open daily from May to September, and Wednesday to Sunday in April and October.
Worth a detour
- Braemar Castle
Three minutes east of the village on the A93, the first thing on the road home: a tower house of 1628 inside a star-shaped wall, leased to the village and run by its volunteers. It's open 10am to 5pm, daily from May to September and Wednesday to Sunday in April and October, with parking by the castle. Give it an hour.
Photograph by Joe Dorward via Google