The Speyside Way. Alan Castle

SPEYSIDE WAY

       Stage 1 Aviemore to Boat of Garten

       Stage 2 Boat of Garten to Nethy Bridge

       Stage 3 Nethy Bridge to Grantown-on-Spey

       Stage 4 Grantown-on-Spey to Cromdale

       Stage 5 Cromdale to Ballindalloch station

       Stage 6 Ballindalloch station to Aberlour

       Stage 7 Aberlour to Craigellachie

       Stage 8 Craigellachie to Fochabers

       Stage 9 Fochabers to Spey Bay

       Stage 10 Spey Bay to Buckie

       TOMINTOUL SPUR

       DUFFTOWN LOOP

       DAVA WAY

       MORAY COAST TRAIL

       APPENDIX A Route summary table

       APPENDIX B Useful contacts

       APPENDIX C Further reading

       APPENDIX D Whisky production and Speyside distilleries

      A walker on the Speyside Way passing through Anagach Wood

      INTRODUCTION

      This guide focuses on the Speyside Way, one of Scotland's official Long Distance Routes, which follows the course of the beautiful River Spey from the edge of the mighty Cairngorm mountains at Aviemore, many miles downstream from its source, to Buckie on the Moray Firth. At only 66 miles in length, the main route of the Speyside Way is feasible for most walkers, even those of modest ability and ambition. But the guide also describes several other trails in Speyside and Moray that can be walked in their own right or linked to the Speyside Way to create longer and very varied routes through some of the region's best countryside. Together, the trails take walkers from the rugged mountain landscape near the source of the Spey to Spey Bay, where the mighty river empties into the ocean, and the guide is unique in describing a route along the Spey from ‘source to sea’.

      The source of the Spey lies in the heart of a mountain and moorland wilderness in the huge upland range of the Monadhliath, to the west-south-west of Newtonmore. Wayfarers for centuries have been following routes through the remote upland glens of these mountains and over connecting passes. Although these documented trails, by their very nature and location, are not part of the official Speyside Way, they do allow the experienced modern-day long distance hiker inroads into these hills and to the very source of the Spey itself.

      The track winds through desolate Upper Glen Roy (Prologue)

      The guide also includes the Dava Way and Moray Coast Trail, so describing all the major and linking long distance routes in this region of Scotland. The three trails are each quite different in character and complement each other well – a valley and riverside walk, a ramble along a famous disused railway line and finally a coastal walk on one of the finest stretches of coast in the UK.

      The trails in Speyside and Moray have something for all types of rambler, from the seasoned long distance walker to the day stroller in the countryside, from the complete novice and those of limited walking ability to the experienced hillwalker and fit backpacker. Moreover, cyclists and horse riders can also use many sections of these trails, which provide safe, traffic-free routes. And this guide describes it all!

The Official Trails of Speyside and Moray

Badenoch Way	Kingussie to Dalraddy	12½ miles/20km
Speyside Way: new route	Kincraig to Aviemore	6½ miles/10.4km
Speyside Way: main route	Aviemore to Buckie	66 miles/106km
Speyside Way: via Tomintoul Spur	Tomintoul to Buckie	50 miles/80km
Dava Way	Grantown-on-Spey to Forres	25 miles/40km
Moray Coast Trail	Forres to Cullen	47 miles/76km
Moray Way	Grantown-on-Spey via Forres, Garmouth and Aberlour, using the DW and sections of the SW and MCT	95 miles/153km

      The Speyside Way

      The Speyside Way is one of the four official Long Distance Routes (LDRs) in Scotland, which are equivalent to the National Trails of England and Wales. Being so designated, it is waymarked throughout its length with a distinctive white Scottish thistle, as are the other three such trails in Scotland – the West Highland Way, Great Glen Way and the Southern Upland Way. Unlike many of the official long distance paths in Britain, the Speyside Way offers relatively easy walking, mainly on well-surfaced and easily graded tracks and paths, with relatively little total ascent and descent.

      An official Speyside Way sign

      A couple of branch routes of the Speyside Way allow optional starting points for the trail, as well as providing walks of quite a different character to that of the main route along the Spey valley. Hillwalkers will enjoy the Tomintoul Spur, 15 miles on good paths across the hills from the highest village in the Highlands to join the main route of the Speyside Way at Ballindalloch station, a route that also allows a visit to the famous Glenlivet Distillery along the way. Possibly the most well known of all the Speyside distilleries, Glenfiddich, is visited on the Dufftown Loop, a detour of the Speyside Way via Glen Fiddich and the whisky town of Dufftown.

      Beautiful landscape, nature and wildlife, history both recent and ancient, and whisky combine to make The Speyside Way such a splendid trail. Speyside is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful areas of Scotland, a diverse landscape of mountain, heath and moorland, mixed deciduous woodland, conifer plantations, wide river valley and rich alluvial farmland. The neighbouring Moray coast, the southern boundary of the Moray Firth, exhibits a variety of coastal landscapes, from wide sandy beaches and extensive sand dunes backed by mixed coastal forest, to sandstone cliffs and dramatic rocky headlands, rock arches and sea stacks.

      The meandering River Calder in Glen Banchor, north-west of Newtonmore (Prologue)

      It is not surprising, therefore, that the region has a rich and varied wild-life. It is the place to come to see some of Britain's rarest but most endearing creatures, notably otters, pine martens, red squirrels and ospreys.