Avoid, avoid, avoid

[Inkie100]

Just done the whole Trail and have no desire to do it again. Signage is non existent in many places, bogs, pathless terrain, bridges so narrow you have to remove your rucksack and awful long diversions to pass properties. Trail is badly neglected and very little has anything to do with the Caterans.

[Gordie12]

I've tried really hard to ignore this post but it just keeps drawing me back!

The Cateran Trail isn't the best long distance walk in Scotland but the scenery is good and it's still very enjoyable.

The route used to go straight through somebody's front garden (how awkward did that feel?) but a diversion was put in place a few years ago and it's hardly a long diversion.

As for the bogs, this seems a bit over the top, it's hardly the Pennine Way from the 1960's but yes, sometimes there can be muddy sections but surely if covering 60 odd miles in Scotland that really shouldn't be a surprise.

The bridges are too narrow for your rucksack - not sure what to say about that!

If it's a sign you want at every turning I would recommend the West Highland Way but again there can be mud on this route as well so maybe not..............

Please don't be put off by this post, it's really not as bad a route as this suggests.

[Marty_JG]

Mud? In Scotland?

Next I'll be told there's a tiger in Africa.

[Low Level Walker]

To be fair to the OP, I see they walked a total of 104Km for a walk listed on WH website as 38Km.

I think if I also had diversions totalling that length I also would be saying “avoid, avoid, avoid”.

[Low Level Walker]

To be fair to the OP, I see they walked a total of 104Km for a walk listed on WH website as 38Km.

I think if I also had diversions totalling that length I also would be saying “avoid, avoid, avoid”.

Apologies. My bad. I got Cateran and Dava Trail mixed up here.

I’m an idiot. I shall get my coat.

[ahukippax]

I did the Cateran trail with friends in June. The scenery is not spectacular and some sections are not particularly interesting. However, there are some lovely parts through forest and over moors and the section from kirkmichael to glenshee gives you a taste of the wilder terrain of Scotland. It has many merits. If you want a quiet, rural walk in a less visited part of Scotland, the Cateran trail is a great outing.

[Boris_the_Bold]

I really enjoyed the Cateran Trail when I walked it with friends and family in June 2021, using the old Inns at Bridge of Cally, Kirkmichael and Kirkton of Glen Isla - all very warm and welcoming despite COVID restrictions - some lovely big wide empty glens, some nice wooded sections and no route finding issues (though we did have a 1:25000 Explorer map and compass and the Cateran Trail guide book to keep us right).

There were two half-day sections of (traffic-free) road walking, which didn't add much to the week except sore feet, but the rest of the route was perfectly enjoyable - particularly good if you like solitude , as I reckon we saw fewer other walkers in the whole week than you'd see in the first hour on the WHW. And there are a few nice Corbett's to bag along the way, so all good

I suggest you ignore the original post and keep the Cateran Trail on your list of things to do when you have a spare week to fill.