Comyn’s Road

Comyn’s Road is a 35 km (21.75 mile) point-to-point route from Glen Tromie to Blair Atholl. It follows sections of a medieval road across rough glens and remote high ground; it is not a continuous maintained or waymarked trail. This is for fit, experienced walkers who can navigate faint ground and judge river fords. No standard completion time is published; allow about 13 hours as a planning estimate, and longer if route-finding or water slows you. Arrange transport at Blair Atholl because this is a one-way walk.

From the Glen Tromie start, the route drops toward Bhran Cottage. The west bank is rough and thickly vegetated. Dalriach Bridge is gone, and the large River Tromie ford near Bhran Cottage can be dangerous even when the water is low. Beyond it, a vehicle track climbs Druim an t-Seilich, turns peatier, then fades on the steep Bogha-cloiche slope. Descend toward Loch an t-Seilich and look for the faint pony track, marked only occasionally by cairns, to Gaick Lodge. The shore crossing depends on water levels, and an older footbridge is gone.

At Gaick Lodge, Comyn’s Road leaves the Gaick Pass track before its river ford, following the burn upstream to steep zigzags onto Bac na Greige. Old-road terraces and small cairns appear, then become hard to follow across the open plateau; an upright stone is a useful landmark. Descend toward Feith na Mad and continue around the west side of Carn an Fhiadhain. At the eroded Allt a’ Mhuillin gully, a short upstream detour makes the ford easier to cross. The mapped line skirts west of Sron a’ Chleirich. In dry conditions and good visibility, the level col and trig point are a clearer-to-follow alternative, but that changes the line shown here.

A rough ATV track descends Sron a’ Chleirich’s south shoulder toward old sheilings. More burns follow before Clunes Bothy and a vague line over open ground toward Cuilltemhuc. The bothy is basic and not maintained, so do not count on it as dependable shelter. From the locked cottage area, the route crosses the Glen Bruar track and a shallow Bruar ford, then continues past Ruichlachrie and down Glen Banvie to Blair Castle and the village. If Bruar Water is too high, the Glen Bruar track provides an exit to Calvine instead; that is a different finish from the Blair Atholl route mapped here.

The Comyn family built this route in the thirteenth century to connect their castles at Blair and Ruthven. It carried wheeled carts, and an early map text calls it Rad-na-pheny, or the “way of wane wheills,” describing causewayed sections. By the seventeenth century it seems to have been superseded by nearby routes. The story that Walter Comyn died on Bac na Greige in 1258 after falling from his horse is tradition, not established fact. The visible terraces and marker stone are the best clues to the old road itself; look back along the terrace as it climbs onto the plateau.

No food, toilets, or potable-water facilities are documented along the route. Carry supplies for the full crossing and treat natural water before drinking. Dogs can accompany walkers under Scotland’s responsible access rules; keep them under close control around livestock and wildlife.