The Two Lochs Trail at Loch Garten, round to Loch Mallachie

A walk · Boat of Garten

Loch Garten – The Two Lochs Trail through the Abernethy Pines

1¾ milesa loop

free parkingdogs on a lead in nesting season

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Loch Garten lies in the old Caledonian pinewood of the RSPB's Abernethy reserve, between Boat of Garten and Nethy Bridge, and the Two Lochs Trail is a short loop through it from a small car park by the road.

A firm path runs past a viewpoint over Loch Garten, through the pines and a patch of bog woodland to a second, smaller loch, Loch Mallachie, and back. It's 2.7 km round, about 50 minutes at a gentle pace, with benches along the way and goldeneye on the water.

Where it starts

Start at the RSPB's Loch Mallachie car park: a small gravel car park, about a dozen spaces, on the south side of the road from Boat of Garten, 0.8 km before the Loch Garten Nature Centre.

Walk it now Directions 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

Getting there

The Nature Centre's own car park, free with 52 spaces and three Blue Badge bays, is 15 minutes' walk away on the Big Pines Trail. No parking on the verges.

On the path

About 50 minutes' walking at a gentle pace: a loop of 2.7 km (1.7 miles) from the Loch Mallachie car park, past Loch Garten to Loch Mallachie and back. A mainly wide, firm gravel path with some loose stones and uneven bits, and short slopes all the way round, the steepest 22% for about 20 m by Loch Mallachie. For children, short, with benches all the way round and two lochs to look out over; a few short steep slopes. The map to carry is OS Explorer OL57, Cairn Gorm & Aviemore (1:25,000); OS Landranger 36, Grantown & Aviemore (1:50,000) shows the country round it.

Good to know

All year, in daylight. The Nature Centre and its toilets, 0.8 km away, open from 1 April to 31 October; the ospreys are here in spring and summer. Follow the RSPB Loch Garten Nature Centre signs from Aviemore or Grantown-on-Spey. Stagecoach's 37 stops at Osprey Centre Road End on the B970, about 1.7 km from the start by the forest paths: check the times. On a lead from 1 April to 31 August for the ground-nesting birds, capercaillie among them; under close control the rest of the year. No dogs in the Nature Centre. Toilets none at the car park or on the trail: the nearest are at the Nature Centre's car park, 0.8 km east, open only while the centre is, from 1 April to 31 October. No fires on the reserve, which the RSPB's trail map asks.

The walk

The Two Lochs Trail is a loop of 2.7 km, about 1.7 miles, from the RSPB's Loch Mallachie car park, a small gravel car park on the south side of the road between Boat of Garten and the Loch Garten Nature Centre. The RSPB allows 50 minutes at a gentle pace. The path is mainly wide and firm, with some loose stones and uneven bits and a run of short slopes, the steepest a 22% pitch of about 20 metres near Loch Mallachie. There are benches all the way round, but no toilets at the car park or on the trail.

The RSPB's Two Lochs Trail signpost in the pinewood, with a notice asking for dogs on a lead from 1 April to 31 August to protect ground-nesting birds. — The RSPB's sign for the Two Lochs Trail.

From the car park the path heads into the pines, and after a couple of hundred metres a short spur drops to two benches at the water's edge: the first of the trail's two viewpoints, out over Loch Garten. Goldeneye and greylag geese may be on the water, and in autumn and winter wild greylag and pink-footed geese arrive on the loch.

The forested shore glowing in evening light across rippled water, a snowy hilltop just showing. — Loch Garten in the evening, from its west shore.

Past the fork where the loop begins, the path keeps a little back from Loch Garten's shore, with short paths running down to the water, peaty brown and home to few fish. South of the loch it crosses bog woodland, where the pines grow stunted but old.

Low sun through open pinewood onto boggy ground and pools, the loch glinting between the trunks. — Pines and bog pools near Loch Mallachie.

At the far end of the loop, two benches look over Loch Mallachie, the smaller of the two lochs and the second viewpoint. Goldeneye nest in boxes here, and in spring the drakes display on the water, throwing their heads right back.

The lone pine on its islet and the bare dead trunk beside it, reflected in still water, hills behind. — The pine on its islet in Loch Mallachie.

The way back runs up the far side of the loop through tall Scots pines. Fallen and standing dead trees are left where they are: they give insects and birds food, shelter and nesting holes, and feed the soil as they rot. Listen for crossbills working the pine cones, and look out for crested tits and red squirrels, before the last stretch back to the car park the way you came.

A narrow earth path winding between tall Scots pines through blaeberry and heather. — Old Scots pines in the Abernethy forest.

Dogs must be on a lead from 1 April to 31 August, when capercaillie and other birds nest on the ground. The nearest toilets are at the Nature Centre's car park, 0.8 km east along the Big Pines Trail, open only while the centre is, every day from 1 April to 31 October. In spring and summer the centre is where to watch the ospreys, back nesting at Loch Garten since the 1950s, on its nest cameras. For lunch, Nethy House in Nethy Bridge, about 6 km away, does home baking and lunches from 11.30am; it shuts on Wednesdays.

If it rains

Most of the loop runs under the pines, which take the edge off a shower. On a wet day in season, the Nature Centre's windows on the feeders and its nest cameras are 15 minutes' walk away.

Wildlife you might spot

Goldeneye and greylag geese may be out on the lochs, with crossbills, crested tits and red squirrels in the pines. Capercaillie live in the forest too, which is why dogs go on a lead from April to August.

A capercaillie calling in the pinewood. Film: Shutterstock.

A crested tit on a spruce branch in the rain. Film: Adobe Stock.

Pink-footed geese in skeins at dawn. Film: Adobe Stock.

Ospreys came back to nest at Loch Garten in the 1950s. In spring and summer the Nature Centre, 0.8 km along the Big Pines Trail, shows them on its nest cameras.

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

8 min by roadA caféNethy HouseA café with rooms in a granite house in Nethy Bridge, with home baking, Glen Lyon coffee and a welcome for dogs and bikes.

14 min by roadA caféFoxfire CoffeeA speciality coffee bar just outside Aviemore, with cinnamon buns baked in house and views towards the northern Cairngorms.

16 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.

With the rest of the day

9 min by roadThings to doAbernethy ForestOne of the largest remnants of the old Caledonian pinewood, round Loch Garten and Nethy Bridge, with ospreys in summer, crested tits and red squirrels.

Stone-fronted Nethy House café, with signs for coffee, cakes, lunches and crafts

9 min by roadThings to doNethy BridgeThe Forest Village on the River Nethy, wrapped in the Abernethy pinewoods, with a Telford bridge of 1810 and waymarked trails through the trees.

A sunny corner of the Dell Grocer, with shelves of bottles and jars, a cheese plant and baskets on the floor.

11 min by roadA shopThe Dell Grocer, Nethy BridgeA little grocer in the forest at the Dell of Abernethy, a mile from Nethy Bridge, with sourdough on Fridays.

For dinner

Andersons Restaurant in Boat of Garten, 6 minutes by road. A relaxed evening restaurant in Boat of Garten cooking local Scottish produce in season, with vegan and children's menus.

Delaneys' in Aviemore, 15 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.

The Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore, 17 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.