This short walk is an ideal leg-stretcher to combine with a visit to Cawdor Castle. The tiny village itself has a country pub and a deli / cafe.
Bog Factor
Easy going on informal woodland paths. There is a short section on the road; care is needed as there is no pavement.
Cawdor village.
Cawdor is served by very infrequent bus from Nairn on schooldays only.
NH846500
There is limited parking in Cawdor. Turn into the village off the B9090 at the traffic lights; the deli/cafe on the left has parking if you are a customer. Otherwise turn left at the junction beyond, then continue to reach a small layby by a fountain building, just before a sharp bend to the right. Begin the walk by turning left downhill on the lane opposite this, marked with a no-entry sign for cars. The lane leads down to the recycling bins and then curves left to head back to the B9090. Turn right along this, keeping to the grassy verge on the right as the road can be quite busy. Just before the bridge over the Cawdor Burn turn left onto a footpath heading downstream.
The grassy path heads through the woods beside the burn for around a kilometre to reach the confluence where the burn flows out into the River Nairn. Continue following the path that now heads left upstream alongside the Nairn. There is a wooden footbridge to cross a small tributary. Soon the path emerges at a turning circle on a track. To the right here is Milton Bridge, a wooden footbridge which was rebuilt as a celebration of the millennium. The walk doesn't cross the bridge but most walkers will venture onto it for the views up and down the river.
Return to the turning circle and follow the track which leads away from the river, almost immediately becoming a tarred road between fields. The road passes a farmhouse at Bog of Cawdor and then reaches the modern primary school. Continue up the now wider road to reach traffic lights at the junction with the B9090.
The quickest way back is to go directly across to return to the start, but it is perhaps worth exploring the village of Cawdor a little further. To do this, turn right at the traffic lights and keep to the verges (once again, taking care with traffic) until the church is seen on the left. Go through the church yard, rounding the church building and out the far side onto a minor road. Now turn left and follow the road past the attractive cottages of Cawdor. The road passes the former school and eventually curves left and returns to the start.
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