Loch Gynack – Up the Gynack Burn from Kingussie
About 2.8 miles on foot.
The Gynack Burn runs down through the middle of Kingussie, and the town's Golf Course Circular keeps it company uphill.
The waymarked path climbs through birch wood and along the edge of the golf course to Loch Gynack, a hill loch with a pine-covered island, lying under the slopes of Creag Bheag. It's a gentler walk than the climb up the hill next door.
- Time
- About two hours: the National Park's Golf Course Circular, a 4.5 km waymarked loop from Kingussie up the Gynack Burn to Loch Gynack. A moderate walk with short, steep climbs.
- The path
- Short sections of steep climbing with some steps; surfaces varied, some narrow, rough and rocky; can be muddy.
- Where to start
- The Ardvonie car park in the middle of Kingussie, off the High Street beside the public toilets; free.
- Set off
- From November to January, set off by 1pm to be back in daylight.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 1pm.
- Dogs
- Under close control.
- Children
- Steep in places, with steps: not one for a pushchair.
- Toilets
- Public toilets beside the Ardvonie car park, with a charge; none on the walk.
- Before you set out
- Part of the path runs beside the golf course: keep to the waymarks.
The walk
The walk starts from the Ardvonie car park in the middle of Kingussie, just off the High Street beside the public toilets. Parking is free, and the toilets take a small charge. The Cairngorms National Park gives its Golf Course Circular as a waymarked loop of 4.5 km and allows two hours. It grades the walk moderate, with short, steep climbs, some steps, and stretches that are narrow, rough and rocky.
The path can be muddy. It climbs beside the Gynack Burn through birch woodland and along the golf course to Loch Gynack, which lies in the hills behind the town with Creag Bheag rising above its southern shore. A small island of pines stands off the bank. When the railway reached Kingussie in 1863, the burn supplied the water for engines that had just climbed over the Drumochter Pass.
Where the path runs beside the golf course, keep to the waymarks and off the greens, and keep dogs under close control. From November to January, set off by 1pm.
If it rains
The loop is low and partly wooded, so light rain won't spoil it, but the path turns muddy and the rocky stretches slippery. The park's Gynack Mill Trail is the short choice from the same car park, 2 km and about an hour on a mostly smooth gravel path.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Heather McCulloch via Google