Parking
The leaflet marks Causer car park and a Visitor Centre with toilets near the village start; charges and capacity are not stated.
Overview
About Puggy Line Trail
Why go
- A short loop through ancient pine forest.
- Follows a wartime timber-railway alignment.
Heads up
- Narrow paths are often muddy and rooted.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Cairngorms map
Full mapElevation216–239 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 Puggy Line 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
Explore Abernethy and the River Nethy0:00 / 0:35
“You're coming up on Explore Abernethy, the small visitor centre inside Nethy Bridge Community Centre. Stop here for forest maps and a look at the wildlife sightings board before choosing a walk.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Cairngorms Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Castle Roy and its Courtyard
- The Redstart’s Quivering Tail
- A Flood for the Timber
- The Treecreeper’s Upward Spiral
- 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 Puggy Line Trail
The loopPuggy Line Trail is a moderate circular walk through ancient pine forest at Nethy Bridge.
Puggy Line Trail is a moderate circular walk through ancient pine forest at Nethy Bridge. The marked route runs about 2.5 miles (4 km) between the village and Tulloch Road, then loops back through the woods; allow about one hour. It follows the line of an old timber railway, making this a forest walk with a piece of local forestry history. Start from the village and follow the waymarkers; the map does not name one exact trailhead marker.
Footing and accessMost of the path is narrow and earthy, with gentle gradients.
Most of the path is narrow and earthy, with gentle gradients. It is often wet and muddy, and roots make the tread uneven, so use shoes with grip and take care on muddy sections. The leaflet marks Causer car park and a Visitor Centre with toilets near the village start; it does not give parking charges or capacity.
The old line and the forestThe Puggy Line was a narrow-gauge logging railway used during World War I to extract timber…
The Puggy Line was a narrow-gauge logging railway used during World War I to extract timber from Abernethy Forest. The trail passes close to its former route. Red squirrels may be spotted among the pines, though sightings are never guaranteed. Dogs can come on the walk; keep them on a lead from March through August during the forest breeding season.
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.
