Around Craig Leek Loop

Around Craig Leek Loop is a 5.25-mile (8.5 km) circuit from Keiloch, usually 2 to 2½ hours with about 250 m (820 ft) of ascent. Waymarked paths and estate tracks circle Craig Leek rather than climbing to its summit. You get pine and birch woodland, traces of an old drove route and a low heathery pass with views toward Lochnagar and the upper Dee. It suits a moderate half-day hill walk if you want a climb and changing scenery without a summit scramble.

From Keiloch walkers’ car park, take the tarmac lane past the estate houses, then continue into pinewood. At the “Around Craig Leek / Keiloch Crag” sign, turn right and then left at the next waymarked junction. Pines thin to birches before a steeper track climbs to a gap in a dry-stone wall and the low pass on the heathery ridge behind Craig Leek. This is the circuit’s highest stretch; it does not go over the summit.

Beyond the pass, Lochnagar comes into view as the route descends past old walling and settlement ruins. In Felagie burn glen, turn right at the marker and cross a small burn, usually dryshod. The return passes through birch woodland and by Felagie cottage before the track leads back to Keiloch. Keep an eye on the signs at the junctions, especially where the estate tracks meet.

Part of the track follows an old drove route toward Tomintoul. In the 1700s, cattle were driven along these hills toward markets farther south. The woodland also changes as you go: pine gives way to birch and open heather, with scattered old pines left among naturally regenerating trees. Invercauld House and a trackside sculpture are brief glimpses through the trees rather than stops on the walk.

Parking at Keiloch walkers’ car park is charged. The measured distance includes the whole circuit back to the same car park. Dogs are allowed under Scottish access rights when kept under proper control. For a clear view toward Lochnagar, pause just beyond the low pass, where the heath and old walling give the open hillside a foreground. The small burn crossing in Felagie glen is the main place to take extra care if water is higher after rain.