Cairngorms weekend day 2: Speyside Way, Military Roads and Glen Feshie

Day 2 of the miraculous weather, and also day 2 of me miraculously finding my legs and dialling in my position on the gravel bike, I’ve had a pretty scrappy summer but it’s all come together just in time for a wet autumn, d’oh!

Anyway, I wanted to check out some bits and pieces to the south of Aviemore. A bit of a contrived route on paper but scratched a few itches!

Check out this route on Strava: https://strava.app.link/qo7D0SFjdNb — Journey to the Centre of Scotland

First the section of Speyside Way between Aviemore and Kincraig. More a means to an end but was satisfyingly twisty and fast in places and there were bits of singletrack firing off everywhere that merited exploring.

Then a wee loop up to Loch Gynack above Kingussie, lots of singletrack around the golf course and then some reasonably rocky stuff alongside and uphill of the loch to really wake me up. The descent towards Newtonmore was a bit marshy in bits but generally fast and fun.

I barely saw Newtonmore before heading back up in to Glen Banchor. This was reputed to be boggy but I was quietly confident based on… well, nothing really, and after some initially good gravel tben grassy double track it got pretty boggy for maybe 2km. Thankfully the river was really low do I just cut the corner to Dalnashellag bothy, where the good fast landrover track descent took me almost to Laggan.

From Laggan it was up and over to the A9 via Glen Fruim and the Centre of Scotland and a short section of forestry track and a fun descent on a steep farm track.

I crossed the A9 at Etteridge to join the dots and follow the old Military road to Phones, which I’d ridden most of in the opposite direction. It went from good fast (dare I say ‘champagne’?) gravel to lovely smooth grassy double track to some more overgrown double track, then mostly stoney or heathery double track. Fast and fun and I was beginning to think thoughts of trying to catch my group who were riding a shorter Glen Feshie loop.

I eventually caught them after time trialling up Glen Tromie and over the ‘Wall of Gaick’ which is the steep climb out of Tromie towards Feshie. The descent down the other side was pretty chaotic, especially without a back break, but the final roll into Glen Feshie was idyllic. I would love to have explored more of Feshie but we were all running late by this point so took pretty much the most direct route back to Glenmore (although that singletrack along Lochan Gamhna was a rude shock!).

An amazing day which showed off the massive variety of what’s on offer in and around the Cairngorms. Bring on Outer Loop in a Day 2025!

It’s usually the other Loch Gamhna track (past Drakes Bothy) that I’d ride but it isn’t best appreciated on a gravel bike. TBH I usually try to avoid it unless I’m on MTB or fatbike. Last time I rode it (on the Amazon) I stopped to reduce my tyre pressures a bit. I was amused when I got home and measured them to find them at around 18psi.  

Maybe that was the track I was expecting, broader and rootier? The western track I rode was skinnier, twistier and rockier, plus a stream running down half of it! Still good, just required a commitment of energy that I didn’t quite have…

Yep, that’s the one.

Is Drake’s Bothy still there? It’s vanished off the current OS mapping. Mind you, the new tracks, dam and growing reservoir on the Pattack aren’t on it either. I was going to revisit the Military Road over to Kingussie yesterday on the final day of my current trip through to Aviemore, but the headwind/wind-chill was horrific so I stayed on the more sheltered cycle path in the valley. Pity they don’t seem to have put in access across the A9 to Etteridge, that’s a much nicer route than plodding next to the A9.

Drakes Bothy was still there a few weeks ago!

The Pattack changes are all on OpenStreetMap now (some added by yours truly). FWIW,  a weird anomaly of the Ordnance Survey app/website is that it will route via OSM data, but not display it.

After a bit of local protesting, a former transport minister promised that an underpass would be built at Etteridge. It never happened (of course). I usually sprint along the A9 until I reach the junction, though I’m usually heaving South.

As part of the A9 dualling programme we got a commitment to extend the track at the north end of the old military road to meet the Ruthven barracks track, thereby removing the need to cross the A9 there.

Sorry Ian, we’re rather detracting from your thread here :-)

Great photos and it’s always nice to see folk using -and enjoying – some of my local trails.

Was up there for a week with the family in August, it  rained pretty much all day every day.

So.. go on, rub it in.

Sorry Ian, we’re rather detracting from your thread here :-)

No no, you’re arresting its gradual descent down the board AND providing some interesting insite, I think I crossed the A9 three times over the weekend while following old military roads, each crossing was a ball-ache. I imagine it must be worse for horse riders.

It was the equestrians that got the “promise”.

The Wade road can also be followed (almost) all the way to Inverness. A group of us rode it earlier this year, all the way to the Castle Tavern for a few beers before getting the train home.

I actually put together a wee bikepacking route using the combinations of military road, including the Corrieyairack and along South Loch Ness.

Looks like a grand day out.

Class! I think the Cairngorms is my favourite place to ride for a big day out. You should get your blog up and running again.

Looks a good route Ian. It passes my front door almost (I’m 1000m from the Speyside way) Embarrassingly I have never done the section from Kingussie to Laggan. I’ve also never taken that little turning in Glen Truim at the centre stone.

I must not be adventurous as I’m not keen on that rough part between Ettridge and Ruthven barracks. Absolutely love the pass over from Tromie to Feshie, the descent into Feshie is the best bit and I love the Ghamhna single track but the one on the east side of the Loch not the wet one you took. Great photos thanks for posting.