Low Level Walking

A short drive from Ballater and stretching across 25,000 acres, Glen Tanar Estate is in the east of the Cairngorms National Park and includes a large National Nature Reserve, one of 8 in and around the Park.

To start you off there are five waymarked paths of varying lengths.

After this the choice is yours. Why not extend your trip to a walk up Mount Keen – the most easterly Munro?

Walkable from the hostel, the Muir of Dinnet is another of the 8 National Nature Reserves in the Park. It includes Loch Kinord and Loch Davan as well as the famous Burn o’ Vat (or to some MacGregor's Cave) – a very large barrel measuring 18 metres across and 13 metres high formed by melting ice 14,000 years ago!

The Visitor Centre at the Burn o’ Vat is open daily and as a guide there is a network of 4 paths to explore the Reserve.

The Cambus o’ May woods (Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)) start about 2.5 miles east of Ballater. The woods have a couple of large ponds and there are some superb views of Lochnagar. There are several attractive forest walks, three of which are waymarked. A longer walk leads through the woods to the Burn o’ Vat in the Muir of Dinnet Nature Reserve. It is possible to walk to Cambus O’May direct from the hostel.

Mar Lodge Estate is a Scottish Highland estate, owned by the National Trust for Scotland. It is recognised as one of the most important nature conservation landscapes in the British Isles and occupies nearly 8% of the Cairngorms National Park. The estate covers 72,500 acres of some of the most remote and scenic wild land in Scotland, with 15 Munros on or within its boundaries.

From the Linn of Dee car park there are a number of low-level walks to be enjoyed.