Beinn Mheadhoin and Derry Cairngorm Circuit

This is a 31 km (19.3 mi) loop from Linn of Dee over Derry Cairngorm first and Beinn Mheadhoin second, returning through Coire Etchachan and Glen Derry. Allow 9 to 10 hours. It is a serious mountain day: long, remote and rough underfoot, with boulder fields, open plateau and a short scramble to Beinn Mheadhoin’s true summit. The 31 km includes the walk from the car park and back. The optional Càrn Crom cairn spur is not included.

The signed Glen Lui footpath starts at the back of Linn of Dee car park. It passes a wooden lookout and a boardwalk across boggy ground, then joins a track through pinewoods. Black Bridge crosses the Lui before you turn onto the Derry Lodge track. This lower stretch is relatively straightforward, but it takes several kilometres before the hill route begins. At Derry Lodge, cross the footbridge over the River Derry and leave the easy track for a path climbing through heather and pine. The view opens back down Glen Derry. A short detour to Càrn Crom’s cairn gives a view toward Cairn Toul and Braeriach, but adds distance to an already long day.

The path climbs toward the stony domes and becomes less distinct. Keep east of the southern top before turning onto the summit cone; loose boulders cover the high ground. From the broad top, look across Lochan Uaine toward Ben Macdui’s Sròn Riach ridge. The cairn is not the end of the rough walking: the route continues northwest over a boulder ridge and a bealach, keeping west of Creagan a’ Choire Etchachan. It joins the Ben Macdui path, then drops to cross the outflow below Little Loch Etchachan.

A very stony path climbs northeast onto Beinn Mheadhoin’s plateau. The first granite tors, known as the Barns, stand above Loch Avon; the wide sandy ground between them is wind-scoured and feels different from the broken slopes below. Continue from tor to tor toward the largest block at the northeastern end. That tor holds the true summit, reached by a short scramble from its far side. It is a brief but real hands-on finish, so anyone uncomfortable on steep rock can stop at the lower tors and still enjoy the view.

Retrace to the Etchachan outflow and descend the south side of the burn through Coire Etchachan. Hutchison Memorial Hut is a bothy on the way down. About a kilometre below it, a footbridge crosses the Coire Etchachan burn. Farther down, Glas Allt Mòr has no bridge and may be dangerous or impassable in high water. Check the crossing from the bank and turn back if it is not safe. The route then follows Glen Derry through pinewoods to Derry Lodge, where it rejoins the track back to Linn of Dee.

Derry Lodge was a Victorian shooting lodge used by Queen Victoria; Hutchison Memorial Hut is maintained by volunteers as a bothy, not a staffed stop. Linn of Dee itself is a narrow rocky gorge where the River Dee squeezes through a gap. There is no resupply on the hill route, so carry a full day’s food and water. The car park toilets are seasonal, available from Easter to October. Dogs are welcome on the estate, but keep them under close control or on a lead, especially from April to July when ground-nesting birds are breeding.