This walk from the Linn of Dee follows Glen Lui as far as Derry Lodge, an imposing but disused shooting lodge in a beautiful pinewood with great views of the Cairngorm mountains. This out-and-back route gives open vistas and pinewoods with a taste of the wild Cairngorms, yet backed by the ease and safety of a clear vehicle track to follow.
Clear paths and tracks.
None to start.
Linn of Dee car park (charge).
From the Linn of Dee car park take the path marked for Glen Lui. Follow this through the forestry and pass a lookout area and then a boardwalk path. The path soon emerges onto the main track. The gate opposite leads to a short walk to a waterfall where there is a salmon ladder to allow salmon the chance to swim upstream to spawn. Turn left along the track which keeps to the left hand side of the fenced forest.
There are lovely Scots pines and other trees on the left with heather and blaeberry bushes in the undergrowth. After a short while the track curves to the right and reaches Black Bridge. Cross the bridge and turn left to start the walk up Glen Lui. The track follows the east side of the Glen, the views of the mountains ahead improve all the time.
Keep on the track as it undulates slightly and passes forestry on the right. Eventually the shelter belt of pines surrounding Derry Lodge come into view. Derry Lodge was built by the estate in Victorian times and was used as a base for shooting parties. The impressive building, which, like the rest of the estate, now belongs to the National Trust for Scotland, is boarded up and unused at present.
Follow the path beyond the lodge and pass the Mountain Rescue post on the left. From here there are good views of the challenging mountains ahead. The area near the footbridge makes a good spot for a picnic and red deer can often be seen on the other side of the glen.
To return go back past Derry Lodge and retrace the outward route. The views down the Glen are completely different yet still beautiful, you get the clear feeling of heading away from the wilderness of the Cairngorms even though the Linn of Dee is high and remote and one of Scotland's coldest places. From the car park you can follow the paths on the opposite side of the road to explore the Linn of Dee itself, where the water cascades dramatically through a small gorge. Incredibly the famous rock-climber John Menlove Edwards swam down the Linn when its waters were in full spate - a daredevil feat so dangerous that it almost defies belief.
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