Creagan a’ Chaise, Cromdale Hills

Start at Cromdale Park, cross the A95 and walk along it to Haughs Hotel, then turn up The Haughs. The tarmac passes houses, a plantation, birchwoods and meadows. After just over a kilometre, turn onto the signed track for Lethendry Castle and Piper’s Stone. At the first junction, take the short farmyard spur to the castle, then return to the junction before climbing. The ruins were a scene of fighting in the Battle of Cromdale in 1690. There’s no parking at the signed track entrance, so begin at the village car park.

The track passes through Lethendry farmyard and follows the Scots pine plantation. It steepens beside Claggersnich Wood and gets rough and eroded; above the felled forest, a wet path branches right near the track’s high point. Piper’s Stone sits just below it beside two Scots pines. Local legend says a wounded Jacobite piper named Hamish played from this boulder during the battle. From here, a rough path past grouse butts climbs to the ridge.

The tall Coronation Cairn has wide views over Speyside, with Grantown among its surrounding woods. It marks Edward VII’s 1902 coronation and the bonfire lit on the hill. From the cairn, the summit route heads southwest across a dip, just to the right of the fence. The path becomes very faint over sodden ground; the broad ridge then curves south to the heavier Jubilee Cairn and trig point after a short, steep rise. The Jubilee Cairn marks Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. On a clear day, the Cairngorms are visible from the summit. Return to the Coronation Cairn and retrace the tracks to Cromdale.

The hardest part is keeping to the faint ridge line over wet ground, especially in poor visibility. The walk also includes an A95 crossing and roadside stretch. It passes farmyards and open ground; a single land manager and current local access notices could not be confirmed, so check and follow signs at gates and buildings. Keep dogs under close control, on a short lead around livestock and ground-nesting birds, and out of fields with young animals.

Some of the Cairngorm reindeer herd’s males roam the Cromdale Hills in winter, so keep an eye out from the ridge and give them space. From the Coronation Cairn, frame Grantown and the wooded Speyside valley below; including the cairn gives the view a useful foreground.