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A walk to Sluggan Bridge and lunch in Tomatin
A walk · Carrbridge

Sluggan Bridge – A Walk to the Dulnain and Lunch in Tomatin

Directions
Station Road, where the track to the bridge branches offStartSluggan BridgeWhere you turn

Up the River Dulnain from Carrbridge, Sluggan Bridge carries the old military road over the water in one tall stone arch, a short walk from the nearest road.

Lunch is over the Slochd in Tomatin.

The walk

Park on Station Road, about two miles up from Carrbridge, where a track branches off. National Cycle Route 7 follows it down to the River Dulnain and Sluggan Bridge, a kilometre each way (about 1.2 miles there and back).

Its single high arch, almost 18 metres across, carries the line of General Wade's military road from Dunkeld to Inverness over the river. The lower bridge of two arches that stood here before it is said to have been swept away in the great flood of 1829, and Sustrans repaired the arch in the early 2000s for the National Cycle Network.

Bring a flask: the stony bank under the arch is a fine place to sit.

If it rains

The walk is out of doors all the way, so bring waterproofs on a wet day; lunch is under a roof.

On the way

  1. The Old Packhorse Bridge

    In the middle of Carrbridge, the village's old packhorse bridge makes a tall, thin arch over the same river. It went up in 1717 so that people, horses and funerals could cross to the parish churchyard, which is why it's still known locally as the coffin bridge, and the great flood of 1829 took only its parapets.

Afterwards

  1. 22 min by car

    The Strathdearn

    The Strathdearn

    Lunch

    It's 22 minutes' drive over the Slochd to Tomatin, where Tastes of Tomatin is the community-owned café and shop beside the Strathdearn hall. It looks out over the River Findhorn to the railway viaduct, and there's a fire to sit beside; the board outside reads 3 Bridges Café. Lunch is homemade soup with oatcakes, quiche or a sandwich, with cakes and coffee as well. The same cycle route passes close by, and red squirrels and woodpeckers often call in.

    More about The Strathdearn

Where to stay

Make it a weekend

More days out near Aviemore.

CairngormsThe Cairngorm Brewery and lunch at the Cairngorm Hotel.CairngormsThe steam train to Boat of Garten and a walk back to Aviemore.
Find out more

For further reading, before you go.

Photographs by Kay Thomas and Abhijit Das via Google