Parking
Use the Bellabeg car park marked on the route map; toilets are shown nearby.
Overview
About Poldullie Bridge Walk
Why go
- A short outing ends at a distinctive 1715 river bridge.
Heads up
- Some minor-road sections have no verge or footway.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Cairngorms map
Full mapElevation281–317 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 Poldullie Bridge Walk, 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
Bellabeg and the Doune of Invernochty0:00 / 0:26
“Bellabeg is ahead, and I'd choose the Roughpark Path for a shorter walk with some local history. Allow an hour to an hour and a quarter for the mile-and-a-half return through woodland and farmland.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Cairngorms Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Rainbow with Reversed Colours
- A Shelter You Share
- Ben Newe above Strathdon
- The Gases Behind the Northern Lights
- 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 Poldullie Bridge Walk
The walkPoldullie Bridge Walk is an easy 2-mile (3.2 km) out-and-back from Bellabeg to Poldullie Bridge.
Poldullie Bridge Walk is an easy 2-mile (3.2 km) out-and-back from Bellabeg to Poldullie Bridge. It passes Strathdon Kirk, winds around Kirk Hill and reaches the stone bridge over the River Don. Allow about 1¼ hours; both distance and time are for the return trip, while the mapped line here draws the outward corridor once.
Roads and accessThis low-level route follows minor roads with long, moderate slopes.
This low-level route follows minor roads with long, moderate slopes. Some stretches have no verge or footway, so expect road sharing rather than a separated path. The route map marks a car park and toilets by Bellabeg. Keep dogs close and use a lead where signs request one.
Poldullie BridgeThe destination is a single 70-foot rubble arch with a steeply humped roadway, built in 1715.
The destination is a single 70-foot rubble arch with a steeply humped roadway, built in 1715. A tablet above the south keystone names John Forbes of Inverernan. The bridge was one of only two local bridges recorded as surviving the 1829 Muckle Spate. The arch and River Don are the walk’s main reward; then retrace the same route.
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.
