The Old Logging Way – Through the Pines to Loch Morlich
About 5.5 miles on foot.
The Old Logging Way is the path that runs from Aviemore through the pinewoods of Rothiemurchus to Glenmore and Loch Morlich.
This walk picks it up at Inverdruie and follows it one way, through old Scots pine and out across open heath, to finish with lunch at the Allt Mor Café and the sands of Loch Morlich across the road. The bus brings you back.
- Time
- About three and three quarter hours one way: 8.8 km on the Old Logging Way from Inverdruie by Coylumbridge to the Glenmore Visitor Centre. A long, easy walk.
- The path
- Mostly well-surfaced paths with a short section of forest track; narrower in places with uneven sections, some moderate zigzag slopes, road crossings, bridges and chicane barriers. Shared with bikes.
- Where to start
- Free at Rothiemurchus, Inverdruie: beside the Barn, opposite it, and in the Woodland car park as you come in from Aviemore.
- Set off
- From November to January, set off by 10.30am to finish in daylight.
- When to go
- All year in daylight; from November to January set off by 10.30am. The bus back runs to a timetable that changes with the season.
- Dogs
- Under close control; on a lead from April to August where birds nest on the ground.
- Children
- Easy but long for small children, and shared with bikes.
- Toilets
- At the Barn at the start; at the Glenmore Visitor Centre while the café is open, and 24-hour toilets by the Glenmore bus stop.
- Before you set out
- After the wildfire of July 2026 the Allt Mor car park and path and the Lodge Trail are still closed, and the right of way to Nethy Bridge beyond Ryvoan Bothy; the Old Logging Way is not on the closures list. Keep to open forest roads and waymarked routes near the burned area, and out of the woods in high wind. Harvesting round Badaguish has closed some routes.
The walk
Leave the car at Inverdruie, a mile out of Aviemore on the Glenmore road, where Rothiemurchus has free parking beside the Barn café, opposite it, and in the Woodland car park as you come in from Aviemore. The Barn opens at 9.30am if you want a coffee first. The Old Logging Way passes through here on its way from Aviemore to Glenmore. The National Park gives the stretch from Inverdruie to Coylumbridge as 1.6 km and from Coylumbridge to Glenmore as 7.2 km, so 8.8 km one way, and allows about three and three quarter hours for the two.
It is mostly a well-surfaced path, narrower and uneven in places, with some zigzag slopes, road crossings, bridges and barriers to slow the bikes that share it. The walk is through tall old pines, then across open heath, and it ends at the Glenmore Visitor Centre with Loch Morlich across the road. After the wildfire of July 2026 some paths at Glenmore are still shut, among them the Allt Mor path and car park and the Lodge Trail. The Old Logging Way is not one of them.
Forestry and Land Scotland asks walkers to keep to open forest roads and waymarked paths near the burned ground, and tree felling has closed some paths round Badaguish, so follow any signs. From November to January, set off by 10.30am. Keep dogs under close control, and on a lead from April to August where birds nest on the ground.
If it rains
Pines give shelter for much of the way and the path is surfaced, so it walks well in light rain; in high wind keep out of the woods, as Forestry and Land Scotland asks near the burned ground. The café at the end is indoors.
Along the way
About 1 hr 40 min on foot
Allt Mor Café
Lunch
The walk ends at the Glenmore Visitor Centre, and lunch is inside it at the Allt Mor Café, which the Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust owns and runs. It does coffee, cakes, breakfast rolls and lunches seven days a week, usually from 9am to 4pm, and dogs are welcome inside. Check the Visitor Centre's website for the day's hours before you rely on it. Loch Morlich's beach is across the road. The Stagecoach number 30 bus back to Inverdruie and Aviemore stops opposite the Visitor Centre. On weekdays in October 2026 it leaves at 12.54pm, 1.54pm and 2.54pm, then not until 5.28pm and 6.20pm, and takes ten minutes to the stop by the Rothiemurchus car park. Weekend times differ, and the timetable changes with the season, so check Stagecoach before you set off.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Where to eat
Allt Mor Café, a café in Glenmore.
The Barn at Rothiemurchus, estate café and takeaway.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Matt Hart via Google