Hidden Scotland
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Walks and nature
in the Cairngorms.

It’s 01:40 in the Cairngorms.
Cairngorms

The Linn of Dee and Loch Muick.

The wild side of the Cairngorms runs from deep river gorges to long mountain lochs. West of Braemar, the young Dee squeezes through a narrow slot of rock under a granite bridge opened by Queen Victoria, among old pines. Up Glen Muick from Ballater, a level path of about seven miles circles a long dark loch under Lochnagar, past an old royal lodge on the far shore. Near Grantown-on-Spey, Anagach Woods has viewpoints among the pines, and the East Highland Way finishes in Aviemore. For a wet day with little ones, there's soft play at Coylumbridge. Bring midge repellent in summer and warm layers all year.

Loch Vaa→
Rothiemurchus→
The Highland Wildlife Park→
Cairngorm Reindeer Centre→
Uath Lochans→
Loch Garten Nature Reserve→
Loch an Eilein→
Loch Muick→
Linn of Dee→
Loch Morlich→
East Highland Way with Thistle Trekking→
Place of the day31 minutes ago

Loch an Eilein.

A loch in the Rothiemurchus pinewoods, with a castle ruin on its island and a level three-mile path round the shore.

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FreeJust nowAberdeenshireLoch MuickAttractionCairngormsViewpoint Walk, Grantown-on-SpeyAttractionCairngormsLoch Garten Nature ReserveAttractionCairngormsLoch VaaAttractionCairngormsLoch an EileinAttractionCairngormsUath LochansAttraction

Free to visit.

Beaches, waterfalls, viewpoints and stones: nothing to pay and nobody to ask.

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From our guideJust now

Cairngorm Reindeer Centre.

Reindeer died out in Scotland around eight hundred years ago, and there were none until a Sámi herder, Mikel Utsi, brought a small group over from Sweden in 1952. Their descendants are Britain's only free-ranging herd, about 150 strong, grazing the high slopes above Glenmore. The way to meet them is the Hill Trip, led by a herder. A short drive and a walk of twenty to forty minutes up the hillside bring you right in among them, and they will eat from your hand. Bring boots and a waterproof.

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Newly discoveredJust nowAberdeenshireBallaterAttractionCairngormsLaggan Stores Coffee BothyCafeCairngormsAbernethy ForestAttractionCairngormsCairngorm Reindeer CentreAttractionCairngormsSmarty ArtAttractionCairngormsAllt Mor CaféCafe

Some good places to go, newly added to the site.

The newest places on our pages in Cairngorms.

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AutumnJust now

What Uath Lochans looks like in autumn.

Small, still lochans in the pinewoods near Feshiebridge, with an easy trail round the water and a climb to a view over Strathspey.

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From our guideJust now

Loch Morlich.

There is something lovely about finding a sandy beach at the foot of the mountains. Loch Morlich lies in Glenmore Forest Park, a few miles east of Aviemore, with old Scots pines round the shore and the Cairngorms rising behind. Its golden strand at the eastern end is known as the highest beach in Britain. On a warm day it feels like the seaside, with families on the sand and paddleboards out on the water. You can hire kit for canoeing, windsurfing and sailing on the beach. Parts of the forest park have been closed since the wildfire of July 2026, so check the trails before you go.

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StayJust nowCairngormsPark Cottage4.3 milesCairngormsKilliehuntly Farmhouse10.2 milesCairngormsThe Hayloft10.2 miles

Stay near Rothiemurchus.

The three good places closest to it: Park Cottage, Killiehuntly Farmhouse and The Hayloft.

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From our guideJust now

The Highland Wildlife Park.

Run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the charity behind Edinburgh Zoo, the Highland Wildlife Park lies at Kincraig between Aviemore and Kingussie. It is a big, open park where Highland animals live alongside creatures from cold and mountain country around the world. Scotland's only polar bears live here, and you will also meet snow leopards, wolves, Japanese macaques, red pandas and wildcats, with red deer roaming the open ground. The park is closely tied to the charity's conservation work, from wildcats to species far overseas.

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From our guideJust now

Linn of Dee.

Six miles west of Braemar, at the end of the road up the Dee, the young river squeezes through a narrow slot of rock, swirling brown and white between carved walls. This is the Linn of Dee. Across the top runs a graceful granite bridge, opened by Queen Victoria in 1857, and she often came here to picnic. Old Scots pines stand round the gorge, and in autumn the birches glow gold. It is part of the National Trust for Scotland's Mar Lodge Estate, and tracks lead on from here deep into the mountains.

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From our guideJust now

Loch Muick.

Nine miles up a single-track road from Ballater, Glen Muick opens into a wide bowl of heather hills, and Loch Muick stretches away into the mountains. A fairly level path of about seven miles runs right round it, with the corries of Lochnagar above and red deer often grazing near the car park at the Spittal of Glenmuick. On the far shore, among a stand of trees, is Glas-allt Shiel, the lodge finished in 1868 as a retreat for Queen Victoria. Behind it, the Glas Allt pours down the hillside in a waterfall.

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From our guideJust now

Viewpoint Walk, Grantown-on-Spey.

Grantown-on-Spey has a lovely pinewood right on its doorstep. Anagach Woods, owned by the community, covers nearly a thousand acres between the town centre and the River Spey, with Scots pine, birch, juniper and rowan among old bogs, lochans and eskers. The Viewpoint Walk is a short, gentle way to enjoy it, opening onto a series of viewpoints along the route, with benches where you want to pause. It finishes on the line of an old railway. The woods are open at any time, looked after by the Anagach Woods Trust.

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