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A walk · Feshiebridge

River Feshie – A Riverside Walk and Lunch by Loch Insh

1¼ miles1 houra loop

free parkingdogs on a lead in nesting season

DirectionsWalk it now

At Feshiebridge the River Feshie leaves its glen on the way to the Spey, and a short trail through Inshriach Forest keeps to its bank.

Lunch is on the shore of Loch Insh, a few minutes away.

Where it starts

Forestry and Land Scotland's Feshiebridge car park, just west of the bridge over the Feshie on the B970: free in the day; the lane down to it is steep and zig-zags.

Walk it nowDirections to the start

Is it for me?

Tap who is coming, or the day you have, for the answer on this walk.

Before you go

On the path

About an hour. A narrow grass and earth path, steep in places. For children, narrow bridges and rocky stretches.

Good to know

Any day of the week: the Boathouse opens seven days a week. About 11am. Please keep dogs on a lead from 1 April to 15 August, to protect ground-nesting birds. None here: the nearest public toilets are in Aviemore, Glenmore and Kingussie.

The walk

The River Feshie Trail is a loop of 2 km (1¼ miles) from Forestry and Land Scotland's Feshiebridge car park, and takes about an hour. Expect a narrow grass path with stony patches, a few short, steep climbs and slender footbridges, and mud after rain. The trail's own page, from Forestry and Land Scotland, has a route card with a map.

The Feshie rises deep in the western Cairngorms and comes down a glen about 30 km long, carrying so much gravel that its course shifts across the valley floor from one year to the next. Upstream it splits into some of the finest braided channels in Scotland, and its gravel beds are home to a rare fly, the northern silver stiletto-fly. After heavy rain it runs high and fast; in a dry spell it slips quietly over the stones.

In the old walled garden are Frank Bruce's sculptures, carved mostly from reclaimed timber, some of it Caledonian pine from this forest. Bruce, born in St Combs in 1931, left school at thirteen, taught himself to carve and never sold his work. He moved the collection here from his sculpture garden near Banff, and meant it to be left to the weather, so the figures age and in time go back to the earth. Most of them have now been lowered to lie on the ground, for safety, so look down as well as about you.

The trail is open in every month. Forestry and Land Scotland posts any closures on its Feshiebridge alerts page: look there before you set out. There is a picnic area by the car park.

If it rains

On a wet day, walk the first stretch by the river and take longer over lunch: the Boathouse looks out over the loch through glass.

On the way

  1. Glen Feshie and the Invereshie pinewoods

    Forestry and Land Scotland's free car park at Invereshie and Inshriach, a National Nature Reserve, is about seven minutes up Glen Feshie. Walk a little way and the pinewood thins to scattered trees and then open hill. Red squirrels, pine martens and crested tits live in the trees. It adds about 12 minutes to the drive to lunch.

Afterwards

  1. 3 min by car

    The Boathouse

    The Boathouse

    Lunch

    It's 3 minutes' drive back towards Kincraig to the Boathouse, the restaurant of Loch Insh Outdoor Centre: a log cabin on the shore with a balcony looking over the loch. It opens every day, with lunch from noon to 3pm and a roast lunch from noon to 4pm on Sundays; ring 01540 651272 to check in winter.

After the walk

Coffee and cake, something to do with the rest of the day, and dinner, nearest the end of the walk first.

Straight after

The Barn at Rothiemurchus, a timber building under the pines.8 min by roadA caféThe Barn at RothiemurchusThe café at the Rothiemurchus Centre by Aviemore, with a wood-burning stove, Cullen skink and cheese scones, and a corner for dogs.Fruit scones fresh from the oven.17 min by roadA caféRoute 7 CaféA family café upstairs on the Dalfaber estate at the edge of Aviemore, with hearty food, lighter dishes and a welcome for dogs.Two guests by the wood-burning stove.17 min by roadA caféFoxfire CoffeeA speciality coffee bar just outside Aviemore, with cinnamon buns baked in house and views towards the northern Cairngorms.

With the rest of the day

Autumn trees line a wide loch with forested hills beyond4 min by roadThings to doUath LochansSmall lochans in the pinewoods of Glen Feshie near Feshiebridge, with a one-hour trail round the water and a longer climb to a view over the Spey valley.Two Japanese macaques huddled in the snow.7 min by roadThings to doThe Highland Wildlife ParkThe Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's park at Kincraig, with Scotland's only polar bears, snow leopards, wolves and a drive-through reserve.Loch framed by autumn branches, forested hills rising beyond the water8 min by roadThings to doLoch an EileinA loch in the Rothiemurchus pinewoods, with a castle ruin on its island and a three-mile path round the shore.A handler in tweed raising a gloved hand as a golden eagle lands beside him, Cairngorms9 min by roadA shopRothiemurchus Farm ShopThe estate's own Highland beef and venison, trout and heather honey, with a deli counter, at the Rothiemurchus Centre by Aviemore.10 min by roadThings to doRSPB Insh MarshesThe RSPB's wetland reserve on the Spey, ten square kilometres of marsh and pools on the valley floor from Kingussie down to Kincraig.Ruthven Barracks, the roofless Hanoverian barracks near Kingussie, on its green mound under a heavy grey sky, a gravel path climbing to it.11 min by roadThings to doRuthven BarracksThe ruins of a government barracks on a grassy mound across the River Spey from Kingussie.

For dinner

The Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore, 10 minutes by road. A pub on the bank of the Spey in Aviemore, once a gamekeeper's cottage, with a log fire, seasonal cooking and dinner every evening.

The Rowan Tree Country Hotel in Alvie, 11 minutes by road. A small family-run hotel overlooking Loch Alvie, three miles south of Aviemore, whose restaurant serves dinner every evening to anyone who books.

Delaneys' in Aviemore, 13 minutes by road. A small-plates restaurant on Aviemore's Grampian Road, opened in 2024, cooking with Speyside meat and local fish, with dinner every day except Thursday.

Places to stay near the walk

Our places to stay nearest the start, by road.

An advert

Killiehuntly Bothy

A stone cottage for a family of four in the old farm courtyard at Killiehuntly, near Kingussie, with a log stove, a bunk room and a welcome for the dog.

Sleeps 4 · 13 minutes by road

See Killiehuntly Bothy
A row of stone cottages with a slated roof and four chimneys sits behind a gravel courtyard, hills visible in the distance.

More places to stay near the walk

A landscape view of Park Cottage in the snow, its windows lit, forest and a white hill behind.An advert · KincraigPark CottageSleeps 6 · 10 minutes by roadA rowan tree heavy with red berries hangs before a white harled house, a round table and chairs set on the gravel behind.An advert · KingussieCairngorms Church Hill HouseSleeps 4 · 13 minutes by roadA stone and dark timber house sits beneath autumn trees, logs stacked in an open store and hills visible in the distance.An advertGeordie’s CottageSleeps 5 · 13 minutes by roadStone farmhouse surrounded by autumn trees and hills in the Scottish countrysideAn advertKilliehuntly FarmhouseSleeps 10 · 13 minutes by roadA stone barn with a red door and a steep slate roof stands among trees turning gold in autumn.An advertThe HayloftSleeps 2 · 13 minutes by roadTimber-clad lodge with balcony overlooking a loch, framed by bare branchesAn advert · CarrbridgeStrathspey LodgeSleeps 8 · 28 minutes by roadDell Cottage's sitting room, a fire lit in the open hearth, with teal sofas and sheepskins on an oak parquet floor.An advert · Nethy BridgeDell CottageSleeps 2 · 29 minutes by roadDell Lodge under snow, its pale stone front and dormers seen through red autumn leaves across the white lawn.An advert · Nethy BridgeDell LodgeSleeps 8 · 29 minutes by roadEast Dell in spring sunshine, a low stone cottage with a red door and a mossy roof beside its garden and an old oak.An advert · Nethy BridgeEast DellSleeps 5 · 29 minutes by roadA wooden gate in a picket fence opens onto Little Dell's green garden, with cow parsley and a wooden bench beyond.An advert · Nethy BridgeLittle DellSleeps 2 · 29 minutes by roadSouth Dell, a white cottage with a stone gable and a slate roof, its sunny lawn edged by big trees.An advert · Nethy BridgeSouth DellSleeps 6 · 29 minutes by roadWest Dell, a whitewashed stone cottage with a red door and a slate roof, in low winter sun.An advert · Nethy BridgeWest DellSleeps 6 · 29 minutes by road

More walks near here

Within a short drive of the start.

Uath Lochans5 min by roadA walkUath Lochans3½ miles, 2 to 2½ hours for both trailsLoch an Eilein8 min by roadA walkLoch an Eilein3 miles, an hour to an hour and a halfThe Old Logging Way8 min by roadA long dayThe Old Logging Way5½ miles, about 3¾ hours, one wayLoch Insh4 min by roadA strollLoch Insh1½ miles, about an hourInsh Marshes11 min by roadA walkInsh Marshes2¾ miles, about two hoursCraigellachie11 min by roadA hillCraigellachie2¾ miles, about two hours

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Photographs by Roo D and Ralf Reineke via Google

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