A walk into the Cairngorms at Kingussie.
Rudy spent a few days in Kingussie as a late Spring holiday so didn’t have to choose just one daytrip walk. After exploring Kingussie town itself and a day visiting Ruthven Barracks we still had a day to go “full Scotland” with a walk to Creag Bheag and Loch Gynack.
Creag Bheag is a 487 metre hill that sits behind Kingussie town. It has a few waymarked trails that include it’s slopes and summit. We chose to walk around it to reach Loch Gynack and then have the choice of routes onwards to Newtonmore or returning directly to Kingussie. When it came time to choose we opted for a longer (second) picnic which meant we’d miss a train back if we continued so returned to Kingussie via the Pitmain Estate and West Terrace. It was an incredibly varied walk through woods, the loch side and open moorland with views across the Cairngorm hills – thoroughly recommended!
Creag Bheag
The hill paths around Creag Bheag are fairly easy walking and very clear to follow. We chose to walk round the hill with our chosen path sticking close to the treeline for a varied & interesting walk to the loch at the rear of the hill. We only saw a handful of other people (five humans and one dog) but that may have been reduced numbers visiting due to some remaining pandemic restrictions.
Rudy is always fastest. blep Cairngorms View
Loch Gynack
Set between two hills and out of sight from any main road Loch Gynack feels a bit like a secret loch despite being on an easy signposted path from the Kingussie Golf Course and it’s caravan park! The “paths around Kingussie” trails and map don’t quite reach to the loch itself but the path is very clear & simple to follow along the southern edge of the loch. It’s one of our favourite walks so far, Rudy loves running ahead on this type of path and dashing back for a reward when told he’s gone too far ahead! The path runs a little away from the loch side but we were able to get down to the shore in places through tracks in the heather.
Rudy exploring a side track. Loch Gynack
Pitmain Estate
After leaving the shores of Loch Gynack our path took us into the open moorland of the Pitmain Estate. Despite knowing it’s a managed estate rather than Scotland’s natural landscape, and only a few miles walk from Kingussie station, this still felt like we’d strayed into the exceptional remoteness of the Scottish Highlands. We could see for miles and it was clear Rudy could scent for miles on the breeze, his nose twitching enjoying the “view” as often as I took photographs!
