Aberdeenshire

Finzean and Glen Dye – Clachnaben, Cairn o' Mount, Farm Shop

A day by car, from Banchory and back.

The route

South of the Dee, between Banchory and Aboyne, the Water of Feugh runs down a quiet valley of farms and forest, watched over by Clachnaben and the granite tor on its top.

This day keeps to that valley and the glen beside it. From Banchory it crosses the Dee and the Feugh and runs through Strachan into Glen Dye, where the path to Clachnaben sets off through the trees. Walk as far as Miller's Bog, where the glen opens out, or climb all the way to the tor. Past the old Bridge of Dye, built about 1680, the road climbs to the top of the Cairn o' Mount for a view over the Mearns. Lunch is at the Finzean estate's farm shop and tearoom, and the afternoon is a short walk beside the Water of Feugh from Finzean's old sawmill before the road home to Banchory.

Before you go

Book a bed near Banchory
The day starts and ends in Banchory, and summer beds on Deeside go early: book once your dates are set.
Book Finzean Farm Shop and Tearoom
Book a table for lunch online or on 01330 850710; the patio takes walk-ins.

The day

Finzean

The day opens with a walk under Clachnaben in Glen Dye, a gentle hour or the climb to its tor, then drives past the old Bridge of Dye to the top of the Cairn o' Mount. Lunch is at Finzean's farm shop, then a short walk by the Water of Feugh and home to Banchory. Leave Banchory at ten, or at half past eight for the tor.

1 hr 4 min at the wheelAbout 34 miles by carAbout 3.5 miles on foot

Clachnaben Walk, Glen Dye
A walk
It's 14 minutes' drive from Banchory, over the Dee and south on the B974 past the Bridge of Feugh, then left at Strachan into Glen Dye. Park in the free forest car park in an old quarry just north of the Bridge of Dye: it takes about 15 cars and fills on fine weekends. Clachnaben stands to the west, 589 metres high, with a great granite tor on its top, and 'Clachnaben!' is the war cry of Clan Strachan. The path leaves the car park through the plantation.
More about Clachnaben Walk, Glen Dye
18 min on foot
Miller's Bog
Walk 18 minutes to Miller's Bog, where the trees end and the glen opens out with Clachnaben's tor on the skyline. Here the morning divides. For a gentle hour, follow the sandy path a little way beside the Water of Dye and turn back. Or climb on by pitched stone steps to the tor: about 5.5 miles there and back from the car park, over 500 metres up, three to four hours. The story goes that the devil bit a lump out of the glen and spat it onto the hilltop.
18 min on foot back to the car, then 7 min by car
Cairn o' Mount
Drive 7 minutes south on the B974, past the old Bridge of Dye, a humped granite arch of about 1680 where the road once forded the river. Then the road climbs onto open moor to the top of the Cairn o' Mount, 455 metres high. The cairn at the summit, dated to about 2000 BC, may be the one that named the pass; just beyond, a car park looks south over the Mearns to the sea. Armies crossed here in 1296 and 1689. Turn round: the far side drops steeply to Fettercairn.
20 min by car
Finzean Farm Shop and Tearoom
A café
It's 20 minutes' drive back down the B974, by the back road to Whitestone and west up the Feugh valley to Finzean. The estate's farm shop and tearoom serves lunch from noon to half past three every day: soups, sandwiches on bread baked here, taster plates of local meat or fish, and ice cream made at Finzean. Book a table, or sit out on the patio, where dogs are welcome. Joseph Farquharson, Finzean's Painting Laird, built heated huts about the estate to paint its winters.
More about Finzean Farm Shop and Tearoom
4 min by car
The Woodend River Walk
The parking by the old sawmill is 4 minutes' drive past Finzean church and along the single-track Forest of Birse road. The estate's Woodend River Walk sets off here, beside the Water of Feugh to Woodend and back: 1.6 miles, under an hour. You see the mills from outside as you start. The sawmill of the 1820s cut oak for the floor around the Presiding Officer's chair in the Scottish Parliament. Four generations of the Duncans worked the turning mill just downstream. Neither opens to visitors.

If it rains

In rain, wind or low cloud, leave the tor for a clear day: its steps and rocks turn slippery and there's nothing to see from the top. The walk to Miller's Bog stays low, though the ground there is wet in any weather, and the Cairn o' Mount is only worth the drive when there's a view, so go straight on to Finzean. The farm shop and tearoom is the place to shelter, open from 9am, with local food, books and art to browse. The river walk at Finzean is short, and the mills are seen from outside in any weather. On the way home, the Falls of Feugh at the Bridge of Feugh run fullest after rain: watch them from the footbridge beside the old road bridge.

Worth a detour

Falls of Feugh
At the Bridge of Feugh, a minute short of Banchory, the Water of Feugh tumbles over rocks just above the road bridge. Park in the car park by the bridge and walk onto the metal footbridge over the falls. It adds no driving: give it a quarter of an hour.