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Planning a walk from Braemar to Blair Atholl

Planning a walk from Braemar to Blair Atholl


Postby AndyATSmith » Tue Jul 05, 2022 9:15 am

I'm thinking about a walk from near Braemar to Blair Atholl and just looking for some advice. According to the OS 1:50k maps there appears to be a rough road starting at Linn of Dee (west of Braemar) heading along the river Dee, crossing at White Bridge, going south over fords and then on to a track. It follows the Alt Garbh Buidhe to the Falls of Tarf and then continues south-west along the river Tilt. You can then pick up another rough road which can be followed all the way to Blair Atholl. I'm just wondering whether anyone knows if there are any problematic sections? For example, are the tracks actually visible and easily navigable on the ground and can the fords be difficult to cross? I walk alone so am never keen in going off the beaten track or taking any unnecessary risks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Andy
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Re: Planning a walk from Braemar to Blair Atholl

Postby Border Reiver » Tue Jul 05, 2022 10:02 am

It's a good Landrover track from Linn of Dee to the fords, where the better track veers west up the Geldie burn. Once over the fords, the track is still reasonably wide and very visible up to around the watershed. From there, it's a good path through a narrow valley until the Bedford bridge. About 1/4 mile past there a very good Landrover track is joined and it continues all the way to Atholl. The tracks/roads/paths are good and cannot be missed. The fords are usually easy and shallow, but can be difficult or impassable if swollen by a lot of rain (particularly the Geldie). Enjoy, it's a great walk and it's well used, so you'll meet other walkers and mountain bikers.
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Re: Planning a walk from Braemar to Blair Atholl

Postby Jon and Jen » Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:13 pm

AndyATSmith wrote:I'm thinking about a walk from near Braemar to Blair Atholl and just looking for some advice. According to the OS 1:50k maps there appears to be a rough road starting at Linn of Dee (west of Braemar) heading along the river Dee, crossing at White Bridge, going south over fords and then on to a track. It follows the Alt Garbh Buidhe to the Falls of Tarf and then continues south-west along the river Tilt. You can then pick up another rough road which can be followed all the way to Blair Atholl. I'm just wondering whether anyone knows if there are any problematic sections? For example, are the tracks actually visible and easily navigable on the ground and can the fords be difficult to cross? I walk alone so am never keen in going off the beaten track or taking any unnecessary risks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Andy


Done this a couple of times now. Border Reiver has covered it well, nothing much to worry you at all, paths are well used and obvious. Can be a bit boggy around the geldie burn. If you are planning to camp the falls of tarf is a great spot and can highly recommend having a dip in the main pool. You can swim under the waterfall and get a proper powershower.
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Re: Planning a walk from Braemar to Blair Atholl

Postby WalkWithWallace » Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:46 pm

I walked from Blair Atholl to Kingussie last year. I enjoyed the section up Glen Tilt to Bynack Lodge where I camped. Nothing to worry about track and path wise. The river at the fords would be tricky in spate, that's the only thing I can think of.

My wee vid will give you a good idea of what to expect. Someone there mentioned the falls of Tarf, its a cracking location for a camp too.

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Re: Planning a walk from Braemar to Blair Atholl

Postby AndyATSmith » Wed Sep 28, 2022 4:47 pm

Oops, sorry that I never got back to you all about this. I got side-tracked by other walks and never quite managed it this summer. Fully intend to do it next year though! Thanks for all the advice, sounds like the only possible problem is crossing the fords. Aiming to do a long distance walk from Edinburgh to Berwick-upon Tweed next summer so the walk from Braemar to Blair Atholl will be a good one to train on with a full rucksack. Looking forward to it already!

Cheers,

Andy
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Re: Planning a walk from Braemar to Blair Atholl

Postby gaffr » Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:09 am

Have been over this terrain a few times on the bike. The crossing of the Geldie was, on one occasion a problem that had to be missed out upon.
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Re: Planning a walk from Braemar to Blair Atholl

Postby WalkWithWallace » Thu Sep 29, 2022 10:30 am

Thankfully you don't need to cross the Geldie if you're coming in from the Linn of Dee.

Some of the allts running down off the mountains to the north may cause some problems, particularly the latter ones in Glen Feshie which can be problematic in sustained wet weather.
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Re: Planning a walk from Braemar to Blair Atholl

Postby gaffr » Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:06 am

Hello WWW....perhaps you are mixing up the route through to Glen Feshie with your reply.
For getting to Blair Atholl you have to do a.fording of the Geldie near the Riugh Ealasaid Bothy.
When I first came this way in the early '70's there was the the remains of a bridge here.
Around this time my wife and I walked this through route to link with the Lairig and Moor of Feshie to return to Kincraig. Since then I have always used the bike.
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