Parking
Start at Loch Morlich Beach Car Park, signed as The Beach. Parking is charged; toilets and a café are at the beach.
Overview
About Beach Trail, Glenmore
Why go
- A compact loop with woods, a burn and sandy shore
- Mostly smooth gravel, with toilets and a café by the beach
Heads up
- A short stretch follows smooth pavement beside the road
- Several short moderate slopes mean the path is not entirely flat
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Cairngorms map
Full mapElevation320–346 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
3 active Cairngorms alerts
- CautionStorm Boelo high windsStorm Boelo will bring extremely windy weather to the Cairngorms; take extra care and limit time outdoors. - The Park Authority expects the very windy weather to last until Monday 26 October.Official details
- ClosureGlenmore wildfire closures and dangerous treesWildfire damage has closed Allt Mor car park and the path to Sugarbowl/Utsi’s Bridge; keep out of the closed area.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Cairngorms Tour Guide
Your drive to Beach Trail, Glenmore, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Cairngorms National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Cairngorms audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Loch Morlich Beach0:00 / 0:33
“Loch Morlich Beach is coming up, a sandy freshwater shore backed by pinewoods, with mountains across the water.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Cairngorms Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Glenmore and the Green Lochan
- Cairngorm Reindeer Centre
- Hayfield and Pine Knoll
- Allt Mòr and the Lodge Trail
- 298 audio storiesacross Cairngorms’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Red Deer, Reindeer, Osprey, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 260 trails, 90 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Beach Trail, Glenmore
The short beach loopThe Beach Trail is an easy 1.5-mile loop from Loch Morlich Beach Car Park, taking about an hour.
The Beach Trail is an easy 1.5-mile loop from Loch Morlich Beach Car Park, taking about an hour. It links mixed woodland, the Allt Mor burn and Loch Morlich’s golden shore. Most of the path is broad, smooth gravel; one section follows smooth pavement beside the road, and a few short moderate slopes make it less than flat. Choose it for an easy change of scene, not a long wilderness hike.
Woods and burnThe circuit meanders through pine, birch and alder woodland beside the Allt Mor burn.
The circuit meanders through pine, birch and alder woodland beside the Allt Mor burn. Expect a mix of gravel and a short paved stretch rather than one uniform track. The walk is easy overall, though the short slopes are noticeable.
The sandy shorelineThe beach is the payoff: Loch Morlich is known as Britain’s highest beach and Scotland’s only…
The beach is the payoff: Loch Morlich is known as Britain’s highest beach and Scotland’s only freshwater beach with a Rural Beach Award. On the eastern shore, a leaning pine frames the loch and the mountain skyline. Look for it from the sand if you want a photo that captures the place.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Cairngorms
159 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
63 sightingsReindeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
102 sightingsOspreyMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
37 sightingsBlack GrouseMost seen around 4 AMSighting map
72 sightingsRed GrouseMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
82 sightingsPine MartenMost seen around 9 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Cairngorms. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
