Loch Callater Trail

Loch Callater is an 11.5 km (7.25-mile) out-and-back from Auchallater, usually a 3–3.5 hour walk with about 180 m of ascent. Follow a clear estate track up Glen Callater, then take the path along the loch’s left bank. The reward is a high, mountain-ringed loch and views toward Tolmount. This is a steady moderate walk rather than a summit route; the exact turnaround along the shore is flexible.

The track starts through a gate near Auchallater Farm and enters the open lower glen with the Callater Burn tumbling alongside. Stay on the main track at the forks, cross the burn by a bridge, and continue along the far side of the glen. Pass a small quarry and ignore another branch to the right. Look back toward Ben Avon, whose granite tors mark its summit ridge.

When Callater Loch Lodge comes into view, take the left fork, pass between the lodge and the old stable, then cross a stile onto the shore path. Callater Stable is a walkers’ bothy beside the route, not a staffed café or shop. Small sandy patches along the shore make good places to pause, with Tolmount prominent at the head of the glen. Turn back at a comfortable point to keep to the standard outing.

The lower route is part of Jock’s Road, an old drove way used to take cattle between Braemar and Glen Clova. Its public-access history became part of Scotland’s rights-of-way story. The often-repeated claim that “Jock” was John Winter, an 1880s access campaigner, is disputed; the exact origin of the name is uncertain.

The usual route returns the way you came. A full circuit of the loch is a longer option, but it crosses the inflow above the loch at an unbridged ford that can be higher than boot depth. It adds about one to two hours and is advised only in dry weather; the loop is not needed to reach the loch. Dogs can come under responsible control: keep them close near livestock and, during the usual April–July nesting season, on a short lead or close at heel on moorland and loch shores.