(Revised 23rd July 2022 to include improved mapping)
The Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands, is the largest national park in the UK and one of the main attractions of Scotland. It offers a wealth of activities, including cycling, watersports, snowsports, a reindeer herd, the Cairngorm Brewery, whisky distilleries, a wildlife park, fantastic lochs and mountains, one of the best locations for star gazing anywhere in the world and of course huge opportunities for walking, whatever your ability.
At the heart of the Cairngorms, near to the tourist hub town of Aviemore, lies the vast Rothiemurcus estate. It's within this estate that you'll find the beautiful Loch an Eilein, pronounced lochan-yellen and meaning loch of the island. The loch is surrounded by a majestic pine forest that casts its reflection in the water. The island that its name refers to has a castle ruin on it that further adds to the scenic nature of the loch. The loch is a popular location to visit and can be busy during the tourist season, though there is a large car park.
There's a low level circular walk of approximately 3 miles that runs all the way around the loch. The path is wide and pretty easy going with just tree roots and stones to look out for. When visiting lochs (and also ponds, canals and rivers) in the summer months, it's wise to be on the look out for blue-green algae which is deadly to dogs and also poses a risk to human health. The loch was fine when we visited last month. A good blog article on the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) website that provides further information about blue-green algae, can be found here.
Our walk starts from the Loch an Eilein car park. As of the time of writing the car park charge is £1.50 per person or £4.50 per car. The per person charge includes a map, a free (and quite nice) postcard from the shop and a couple of Rothiemurcus discounts. The map also details other routes that can be walked from the loch. Further information on the Rothiemurcus estate can be obtained from their website here.
We followed the path counter clockwise around the loch, through the lovely forest. It's a straightforward route down to the loch from the end of the car park. As usual, a map of this walk, link to the car park on Google Maps and a GPX file can be found at the end of the article. All images can be clicked / tapped to enlarge them.
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| The loch at the start of the walk (click / tap to enlarge) |
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| The island with the ruined castle |
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