Parking
Use Glenmulliach Forest car park, grid reference NJ 193 168, about two miles south of Tomintoul on the A939. A picnic area is beside the car park.
Overview
About Glenmulliach Viewpoint and Planet Trail
Why go
- Scaled planet markers make the woodland approach memorable.
- A clear day brings a wide view of the Eastern Cairngorms and Tomintoul.
Heads up
- The easy forest tracks give way to a steep, sometimes boggy climb.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Cairngorms map
Full mapElevation389–507 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
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 Glenmulliach Viewpoint and Planet Trail, 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
Glenmulliach Forest’s Planet Trail0:00 / 0:26
“You're coming up on Glenmulliach Forest, where the Planet Trail turns a woodland walk into a journey through the solar system. Each step between its scaled markers represents nine hundred thousand kilometres.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Cairngorms Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- How a Bog Builds Its Ground
- Glenlivet Estate Visitor Centre and Mindfulness Trail
- Queen’s View over Glen Avon
- A Squirrel’s Mushroom Store
- 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 Glenmulliach Viewpoint and Planet Trail
A planet trail to a moorland viewpointThe Glenmulliach Viewpoint and Planet Trail is a 5.5 km (3.
The Glenmulliach Viewpoint and Planet Trail is a 5.5 km (3.5 mile) loop from Glenmulliach Forest car park. It follows the model planets through the woods, climbs to a viewpoint on Breac Leathad, then returns by a forest loop. Allow about two hours, with roughly 180 m of ascent. Expect steady climbing on forest track and path, steps in places, and rough or boggy ground on the open moorland.
Follow the planets through the treesStart at the Sun marker.
Start at the Sun marker. The models and their spacing represent the solar system to scale: each step stands for 900,000 km. After about 300 m, stay straight at the sharp turn toward a house, then take the signed Planet Trail path left, cross the bridge, and pass Jupiter and Saturn. The wildlife hide is a good pause beside areas of replanted forest. The ruined Glenmullie farmstead nearby recalls when this ground was high pasture before forestry.
Climb Breac LeathadContinue uphill past the small fire water pond, cross the gate, and turn right at the moorland…
Continue uphill past the small fire water pond, cross the gate, and turn right at the moorland junction. The track climbs through heather to a stone viewpoint indicator and bench just before the communications mast. On a clear day, the indicator helps pick out the Eastern Cairngorms and the farms and villages around Tomintoul. The peat beside the viewpoint holds old tree stumps from Caledonian pine forest about 3,000 years ago. For a photo, put some heather and the indicator in front of the distant hills.
Return through the forest loopRetrace the viewpoint track to the fire pond, then follow the loop through the deer fence.
Retrace the viewpoint track to the fire pond, then follow the loop through the deer fence. It crosses a cleared slope with standing dead trees deliberately left for wildlife and birds of prey, then descends through another gate to the track back to the car park. Look for red squirrels and woodland birds among the trees; mountain hares and red grouse live on the moor, and hares turn white in winter. The car park has a picnic area and ponds nearby.
A shorter walkThe separate Glenmulliach Nature Trail is about 2.
The separate Glenmulliach Nature Trail is about 2.8 km and stays in the lower woodland, so it skips the viewpoint climb. It is the better choice if you want a shorter forest walk rather than the full moorland loop.
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.
