The Speyside Way. Alan Castle

mountains and glens, whilst the smaller roe deer make their home in the lowlands. Because the habitat is so mixed, so too is the birdlife. Raptors such as buzzards and falcons are common in the skies, and the lucky and observant may spot the iconic golden eagle, riding the high thermals above desolate moorland. Heron lift gracefully from burns and wetlands, dippers bob along on the waterways, and songbirds aplenty are seen and heard in the many hedgerows that line the trails and in the abundant mixed woodlands. Along the Moray coast are found all manner of seabirds – ful-mars, cormorants, shags, guillemots, gulls and more – and plenty of marine mammals, including large colonies of seals, and whale and dolphin pods.

      Speyside and Moray are areas steeped in history, the land of the ancient Picts, a Celtic race that vanished in the ninth century AD, but who left behind evidence of their lives in a number of archaeological remains, from Pictish forts to elaborately decorated standing stones. The Jacobite campaigns of the 17th and 18th centuries have also left their mark on the landscape in the form of battlefields, old troop barracks and expertly constructed roads to aid military troop and supply movements.

      In more recent times the great Victorian railway network penetrated the region, its lines connecting remote communities and bringing the first tourists from far afield to discover and delight in the beauties of this corner of Scotland. Today, the majority of these railways have closed, but fortunately many miles of trackbed have been rescued and converted into excellent pathways for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. There are probably few other areas of the UK where so many miles of disused railway tracks have been opened up for recreational use. Both the Speyside Way and Dava Way explore many miles of these old lines, and the Speyside Way even gives an opportunity to visit one of the country's most popular steam railways, the Strathspey Railway between Aviemore and Boat of Garten.

      The peaty terrain over which the River Spey and its tributaries flow gives a character to their waters which is perfect for the production of whisky. The ‘water of life’ has been distilled in these valleys, often illicitly, for many centuries, long before the commercial distilleries made Speyside famous throughout the world for its single malt whisky. The Speyside distilleries are perhaps the best known of the Scottish whisky distilleries, with such household names as Glenfiddich and Glenlivet. Both of these celebrated distilleries and many others can be visited for their tours and tastings whilst walking the Speyside Way and its associated trails (see Appendix D).

      It has long been the hope that the Speyside Way would be extended upriver from Aviemore back to Newtonmore. In 2009 the Scottish Government approved such an extension in principle. Some progress has been made, but it is likely to be at least 2017 before this section is fully opened. However an important small section was officially opened in the autumn of 2015 providing a new, safe and easy to follow route from Kincraig to Aviemore. The extension back to Newtonmore is eagerly awaited, not only by long distance walkers, but also by many in Newtonmore where arrival of the official trail is likely to boost the local economy.

      Ruthven Barracks complex near Kingussie (Badenoch Way)

      The Badenoch Way

      The Badenoch Way is an excellent 12½ mile trail that stretches along Strathspey from near Ruthven Barracks outside Kingussie, through the internationally renowned Insh Marshes National Nature Reserve, passing picturesque Loch Insh and following the River Spey for a short distance before crossing Dalraddy Moor to terminate on the B9152 just under 4 miles from Aviemore.

      The Dava Way

      In recent years, the long distance path network in Scotland has developed considerably. Perhaps this is nowhere better seen than in the Moray region, where a couple of excellent initiatives have led to the establishment of two quite different medium-length trails, the Dava Way and the Moray Coast Trail (below), that perfectly complement the Speyside Way and allow a number of walking routes to be devised to suit walkers' differing interests and landscape preferences. The Dava Way (25 miles/40km) leaves the Speyside Way at Grantown-on-Spey to travel northwards on a disused railway line all the way to the elegant little Moray town of Forres. This trail is not only a mecca for railway buffs, but also offers a tranquil and easy walk through charming countryside and, for cyclists, offers the best and longest stretch of off-road biking in the district.

      The Moray Coast Trail

      Forres, where the Dava Way ends, is also the starting point of the Moray Coast Trail (MCT). The MCT heads first along the huge bay at Findhorn, home to a massive colony of seabirds. From Findhorn it heads eastwards along the southern coast of the Moray Firth, on a route that links all the coastal settlements of Moray district, through a rich variety of coastal landscapes to finish, after nearly 50 miles, at the village of Cullen. On this journey it crosses the Speyside Way near Spey Bay.

      Coastal caves near Covesea (Moray Coast Trail)

      Thus it is possible to undertake a walking route of just under 100 miles on a ‘triangular’ route using parts of the Speyside Way, Dava Way and MCT, this route being known as the Moray Way.

      The Moray Way

      The Moray Way (95 miles/153km) is a new circular, long distance route that uses sections of the three long distance trails in the Moray region – the Speyside Way, Dava Way and MCT. Signposting with a distinctive Moray Way waymark should be complete by 2011, and a good schematic map of the route was produced in 2010. Developed by the Moray Way Association, this circular trail can be started at the most convenient point and followed in either a clockwise or an anti-clockwise direction.

      From Grantown-on-Spey the Moray Way follows the Dava Way in its entirety, northwards to Forres, and then the MCT eastwards along the southern shore of the Moray Firth until the Speyside Way is encountered at Garmouth Junction, just after the viaduct over the River Spey near Spey Bay. The main route of the Speyside Way is then followed south-westwards back to Grantown.

The Routes in this Guidebook

      This guidebook features all the official trails in Speyside and Moray, as outlined above, and in addition describes other linking routes that together can be used to create a trail from the source of the River Spey to the sea on the Moray Firth. The major part of this trail is comprised of the Speyside Way from Aviemore to Buckie, but the sections further from the coast make use of a number of unofficial routes, many of which have been used for centuries by drovers, armies and others making their way through these Highland glens and over the region's remote and windswept mountain country. The major difference between these routes and the official trails is that the former are largely unwaymarked, so experience with a map and compass is essential for anyone using them. The source of the River Spey lies in the heart of a mountain wilderness, far from permanent habitation, and getting there requires considerable effort and some experience in trekking in such country.

      Three alternative routes are described to the source in the Prologue – two from the west, from Roybridge (Stage 1) and from Spean Bridge (Stage 1A), and one from Fort Augustus in the north (Stage 1B). All of them are long and more suited to the hardy backpacker than to the inexperienced day rambler. But a short side trip, a 14-mile ‘there and back’ walk from the end of a public road at Garva Bridge, is also included in the Prologue for those who would like to visit the source but who don't wish to make a long trek across the mountains to reach it (transport may be required to Garva Bridge). All these upland trails converge at Garva Bridge and continue as one to the small village of Laggan in Upper Speyside, where accommodation is available. From Laggan two possible routes are described to Newtonmore – one to the north of the Spey valley (Stage 2) and the other to the south (Stage 2A). The latter requires no experience of mountain walking as it follows largely the line of one of General Wade's Military Roads, built in the 18th century to police the Highlands after the '45 Jacobite rebellion.

      The footbridge over Conglass Water soon after leaving Tomintoul (Tomintoul Spur)

      There is currently a gap between Newtonmore and the start of the Speyside