1. To reach Welhill car park follow the signs for Culbin Forest. There are public toilets here, and also an information board where you can pick up a good map of the forest. Most of the track junctions are marked with numbered posts which correspond with the numbers on the map. Begin the walk from the gate beside the board, almost immediately turning left off the track onto a good path. This winds through the Scots pines; when it forks, go right. This part of the walk reverses the last stage of the waymarked Hill 99 Trail. Turn left when the path reaches a track.

2. Culbin Forest was once a vast area of shifting sand dunes, but was purchased by the Forestry Commission in the 1920s. Today the mature plantations of Scots and Corsican pines are dotted with birches and recreation has become as important as timber production. Continue along the track, ignoring a track off to the left but taking the next on the right (junction 42). When this emerges at a t-junction, turn left again, passing some areas of younger trees. Continue ahead at junction 39 to eventually reach a junction with a wooden signpost. The route continues straight ahead (signed 'Hidden History') but it is worth detouring on the left branch briefly to visit the Dragonfly pool. Here a carved bench gives an opportunity to sit and watch the these brightly-coloured wizards of the air, before returning to the route.

3. The track is joined by a grassy one coming in from the left; continue ahead until another signpost at junction 38. Immediately before this junction on the right - and easily missed - is Hidden History. Here a seat and some interpretative artworks encourage reflection on a different past. Before the coming of the forest, for many centuries people lived amongst the shifting sand dunes of Culbin, farming but living under the threat of the sand. In 1694 a terrible storm forced the last inhabitants to abandon their homes, which are now buried beneath the sand. Back at the junction, turn right - signed for The Gut.

4. Go straight ahead at crossroads 15 and 16 to eventually emerge from the forest onto the tidal mudflats beyond. This area is an RSPB reserve and an important habitat for wading birds; the dunes a little further out are above the usual level of high tide. The mudflats themselves can be dangerous and are flooded quickly, so keep close to the forest edge. Unless the tide is very high, turn right and continue the walk along the wet, grassy ground between the mud flats and the forest. Look out for herons and waders all year round, but in the winter months the area provides a haven for thousands of birds returning from their breeding grounds in the north. If the tide means progress here is impossible, return to cross-roads 15 and instead follow the inland route east.

5. After a kilometre and a half look out for a faint grassy track on the right that leads back to the forest; there is a sculpted seat as the trees begin. This is the point marked as The Gut on the Culbin Forest maps. Continue ahead into the forest, soon reaching a signed t-junction; turn left, marked for 'Buckie Loch'. Keep on the main track which curves right at junction 13, and ignore a track coming in from the left at junction 12 (the old fish tin sign nailed to a tree is a reminder of the folk who once lived here). A short distance further is junction 9; there is another seating area off to the left here, this time interpreting the wildlife of the forest.

6. Continue ahead from junction 9 - signed for Wellhill car park, and straight on at junctions 11 and 10. Eventually junction 2 is reached; again follow the main track, which curves to the right here. After another 400m a clear, wide path goes off to the left. Take this, and go right when it forks. This leads quickly back to the car park at the start.

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