The Queen's Walk, Braemar

This woodland walk, starting and finishing in Braemar, takes in most of the Queen's Drive and offers tremendous views over Invercauld in one direction and to the distant high tops of the Cairngorms in the other. At 3 miles in length, it gives a great impression of the surrounding countryside of Upper Deeside and Glen Clunie.

The walk is mainly through old woodlands of pine and larch (although much of the adjoining forest is modern conifers). Braemar has an abundance of old pine forest, though regeneration is challenged by red deer browsing. Close by on Morrone, a National Nature Reserve protects fine old birch groves growing high up the hill banks up to 2,000 feet (600 metres). For entomologists, the Braemar area is special for rare alpine insects, including the mountain burnet moth which is unique to this region of Britain.

At the top of the climb is the Lion's Face, a great rock getting its name from a profile resembling a lion when viewed from the Balmoral road. From this hilltop viewpoint there is a long, gentle downhill walk to Glen Clunie — a lovely section with forest on one side and the open heather-covered slopes of Carn nan Sgliat on the other, featuring seats at regular intervals offering tantalizing views of the foreboding Cairngorm high tops. From Glen Clunie the road leads back into Braemar past the golf course, youth hostel, and the house where Robert Louis Stevenson stayed while writing Treasure Island.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot.