Following a Highland River to the Sea: Trekking the Speyside Way

July 2, 2022

The River Spey is Scotland’s second-longest river, flowing 107 miles from the Scottish Highlands to the Moray Firth in the North Sea. One of four official Scottish long-distance routes, the Speyside Way follows the course of the river through mountain highlands, moorlands, forests, and river valleys. It also passes through distilleries in Scotland’s whiskey country. 

The composition of the Speyside Way trail has changed a few times since it was established in 1981, and there are optional spurs and circuits that can be added to the main course. The path we chose to walk started in the town of Aviemore, in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, and ended in the coastal town of Buckie, a distance of 66 miles. We also added an eight-mile circuit through Dufftown to experience the whiskey heritage of the region. That made our hiking distance a total of 74 miles in five stages over six days.

Our trekking route along the Speyside Way

Over the River and through the Caledonian Pine Forest

On our first day we began hiking from the town of Aviemore. This allowed us to follow the course of the River Spey for its last 60 miles to the sea. The trek initially took us through the town, and we stopped at a trail information sign for a photo.

We spent our entire 16.7-mile stage in the Cairngorms National Park. Created in 2003, it is the largest of the UK’s national parks. About 18,000 people reside in towns and villages within the protected area. Leaving Aviemore, the path turned to dirt and passed through some nice forest scenery.

Much of the Speyside Way utilizes old rail lines converted into path. The Strathspey Railway opened in 1863 and transported passengers, cattle, sheep, and whiskey. It was closed to passengers in 1965. A portion of the rail line has been restored as a tourist steam railway that runs from Aviemore. We walked next to that train line for a time as we hiked northeast.

After six miles, we came to the village of Boat of Garten. It also marked our first crossing of the River Spey. Looking back in the direction we had come, we could see a little snow on the mountains in Cairngorms National Park. 

Within the national park there are nine national nature reserves. Soon after crossing the river we entered the Abernethy National Nature Reserve.

The highlight of the nature reserve was a section containing the largest remaining area of ancient Caledonian pine forest. The pines used to cover 70% of Scotland. Today, only 1% is left. As we entered the forest, we were in awe of the density and height of the trees. It was like being in a forest cathedral.

There was no one else around, so we took a moment to sit, close our eyes, and listen to the sounds of the forest.

As we continued our walk, we left the nature reserve and came across a large field of blooming flowers.

After passing the village of Nethy Bridge, the path merged with the old train line. We hiked along several fields with more blooming flowers.

Near the end of the stage we had glimpses of the river as we walked on the old rail line.

The trail turned into the Anagach Woods on the outskirts of Grantown-on-Spey. We took a turnoff into the town, where we stayed in a hotel for the night.

Grantown was founded in 1765 by Sir James Grant, who created city plans for an industrial town with mills and factories. What is left today are several streets lined with grand stone buildings. The weather looked threatening as we took a short walk on the main streets before venturing to the grocery store to buy our lunch for the next day.

A Long Stage of Wind and Fences with a Delicious End

Our second stage was our longest and most difficult day. The weather forecast was also challenging with forecasted gusts of up to 30 miles per hour. We left Grantown-on-Spey shortly after 8:00 am to begin hiking the 18.7-mile distance. The first four miles, to the village of Cromdale, took us through forest and along pastures.

As we walked next to a farm, I thought I saw a buffalo. Instead, it was a highland cow. These cows are distinguished by their long shaggy coats. They have two layers of fur – the outer layer of long hair lets the rain run off, while the woolly undercoat keeps the cow warm in cold conditions.

Just past Cromdale, the difficult section began. It consisted of a series of climbs through forests and pastures for about seven miles. We crossed the highway and began ascending on a rocky path through the hills of the Tom an Uird Wood.

We began to encounter stiles, but these were different than what we had trekked through on the recent Hadrian’s Wall Path. Rather than have to climb over them, these metal stiles just needed to be pulled apart. This made them easy to maneuver through.

The climbs were steep at times, but the wind was more of an issue. Late in the morning the gusts began blowing from the south. So whenever we turned that direction we had to contend with 25 to 30 mile per hour winds blowing in our faces. It made the climbs feel much more difficult.

The Speyside Way book that I bought also cautioned us about fenced corridors through the pastures. The route passed through several of these. Each one took us through a metal stile to a corridor with a barbed wire fence on both sides. The trail could be sloped, uneven, or rocky, making the footing tricky. By no means did you want to trip and fall into the barbed wire fence. In places, there were instances where the path was just a few feet wide. This meant you had to be extra careful not to accidentally brush up against the barbed wire fence as well.

If the wind and fences weren’t enough to contend with, we encountered several instances where the route had changed. This meant that the signs didn’t agree with the course that Darren had on his watch. In 2018, we learned from hiking the Lechweg along the Lech River in Austria that the trail signs needed to be followed above all else. So we hiked using the signs and hoped that we wouldn’t get lost.

Even with all the issues, we enjoyed the views as we continued to climb.

Nearing the end of the difficult section, we passed through a stile with a marker signifying the boundary of the Cairngorms National Park that we were leaving behind.

Our last climb, through the Woods of Knockfrink, was the steepest. Fortunately, it was through the trees and the wind wasn’t as bad. At the top of the ascent, we entered an open area with a nice vista of the River Spey snaking through the valley below us.

At this point we could finally start on a long downhill section toward the river. We crossed the highway again and ended up at the river’s edge.

After all the climbing we were happy to join a flat path along the old railway line for the remainder of the stage.

We crossed over the river on the Ballindalloch Viaduct that was built in 1863.

Several of the old railway stations had been restored along the trail. Some stations even had benches to sit on and take a break.

With just a couple of miles left in the long stage, we came to our first distillery. There are over 50 distilleries in the Speyside area, and they produce more whisky than any other region in Scotland. The “Scotch whiskey” label can only be designated to whiskey that has been distilled and matured in Scotland. It has to have spent at least three years maturing in a cask.

The distillers we saw produced mainly “single malt” whiskey, meaning that it was from a single source.

It was now after 5:00 pm, and we were ready to end our long day. We turned off the trail and walked on a road and dirt path for about a mile to arrive at a B&B located in an old country manor.

We had preordered a three-course meal prepared by the B&B owners, consisting of warm vichyssoise, braised Highland beef, and rhubarb crème brulee. After our long day of hiking, the food was delicious.

Trekking in the Heart of Whiskey Country

Our next stage was much more relaxing than the previous day, as we only had 11.1 miles to complete. After walking the one mile distance back to the Speyside Way, our first six miles of hiking was on the old railway path with periodic views of the River Spey.

We continued to see distilleries just off the trail as we got closer to the town of Aberlour.

Some of the distilleries passed on the trail

We completed the six miles of railway path quickly and reached Aberlour in the late morning. With only a little over five miles left in our stage, we decided to take an extended break and visit a distillery before continuing to hike. It had been difficult to ascertain exact distillery hours when we planned the trek, as it was still early in the season and the pandemic had curtailed some tours and tastings.

After walking around Aberlour and finding that nothing was open, we ended up at a whiskey bar. We ordered two drams of local whiskey and enjoyed a long, relaxing break.

Enjoying the whiskeys at the whiskey bar

After our extended time in Aberlour, we turned off the Speyside Way to begin a circuit to the town of Dufftown, our destination for the night. We were now heading into the heart of whiskey country. There are nine distilleries in or near Dufftown, including one of Scotland’s best-known – Glenfiddich.

To reach Dufftown, we needed to climb over a series of hills, so we began the ascent on a dirt road.

It was a gradual climb, and we were rewarded with a nice highland view when we reached the top.

As we began to walk downhill, we could see the town in the distance.

The public footpath we used was well-marked, but the trail signs became nonexistent when we got near the town. And the route on Darren’s watch did not match the path in front of us, so we had to do a little improvising (and fence climbing) to get around a couple of sections.

We entered Dufftown just ahead of some afternoon rain. We checked into a B&B for two nights to enjoy a rest day, which coincided with our wedding anniversary.

We spent some time on our rest day checking out several of the distilleries around town. Unfortunately, we could not find one that was open for tastings or tours. However, there was a great whiskey shop just around the corner from our B&B. So we bought a couple of airline bottles to conduct our own tastings in the comfort of our room.

Viewing some of the distilleries in Dufftown

A Magical Hike along the River Fiddich 

After our rest day, we left Dufftown to make our way back to the Speyside Way. The route took us along the River Fiddich, one of the main tributaries of the River Spey.

We found this section of hiking to be magical, as we walked through lush forest and had continual glimpses of the river. A chorus of many birds filled the air. We were all alone in nature and saw no one for several miles. It was the best section of hiking we had completed during our trip so far.

We were a little sad to reach the Speyside Way again after such a great experience on the Glenfiddich Trail. But the scenery continued to be beautiful, and we even saw a deer right next to the path.

Leaves with the morning dew; Deer seen on the path

While not as difficult as our second stage, we still had some forest climbing during our 17.2-mile day. The ascent took us through the Ben Aigan Forest.

It was a long climb of about two miles, and at the top we had an excellent view of the River Spey. In the distance we also had our first glimpse of the North Sea. A steep downhill took us back to the river and the village of Fochabers, where we spent the night.

Searching for the Trail’s End in the Rain

Our final day was an easy 10.7-mile stage. Leaving Fochabers, we spent the first five miles mainly along the river.

Right before we came to the coast, we entered the Spey Bay Wildlife Reserve. It is home to the Moray Firth dolphins. They are the largest bottlenose dolphins in the world, reaching up to 12 feet long. Before scanning the sea for dolphins, we bade our final goodbyes to the River Spey before it flowed into the Moray Firth.

There were quite a few people on the beach looking for signs of dolphins, but they were too far away from the coast to get a good view. Instead, we took a break at a cafe, and enjoyed a coffee and a scone. We then turned east on the Speyside Way to hike along the coastline. After passing through a forested area, the trail moved inland and traversed down the old rail line.

The path moved closer to the water, and we had our first extended view of the Moray Firth. It is the largest firth (inlet or estuary) in Scotland with about 500 miles of coastline.

Just past the village of Portgordon, we stopped to look for the grey seals that frequent the area. Because the tide was high, we could only see their heads, but we enjoyed watching the seals bobbing up and down in the water. 

With only about two miles left on the trek, we hurried to the finish. The weather, which had been the best of any of our hikes, was showing signs of rain. When we reached the town of Buckie, there again was a discrepancy with the route on Darren’s watch and the trail markers. We got to the point where the Speyside Way was supposed to end on the outskirts of the town, but there were no finish indicators anywhere to be seen.

Figuring that the trail’s end had been moved to the center of Buckie, we continued to walk in that direction. About a half-mile later it began to rain quite hard. We stopped under a tree to regroup. It was a few minutes before we could check-in at our B&B, so we decided to wait for the rain to let up.

When the showers dissipated, we continued toward the center of town. About two blocks before we reached Buckie’s main street, we noticed a park with the finish indicators. We made a beeline to the markers just as it began to rain harder.

With our trek now officially complete, we quickly walked to the B&B, checked in, and put on some warm, dry clothes.

Even though the whiskey portion of the hike did not work out quite the way that we had hoped, we still savored the natural focus of the Speyside Way. We saw very few people on the trail, giving us the chance to immerse ourselves in the forest and river scenery. And, except for a few minutes at the very end of the trek, we had no significant rain.

With our fourth hike complete, we are now 400 miles into our planned trekking total of 700 miles. We will be hiking our remaining miles on the island of Ireland, with one hike scheduled in Northern Ireland and three more treks planned in the Republic of Ireland.