Parking
Use the Braeloine Visitor Centre car park, where Glen Tanar’s waymarked walks begin. Parking charges apply.
Overview
About Riverbank Path
Why go
- A mellow river loop with a glacial ridge and a lochan.
- The chapel and summer dragonflies add interest to a short walk.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Cairngorms map
Full mapElevation150–174 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 Riverbank Path, 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
Glen Tanar and Fairy Lochan0:00 / 0:33
“Glen Tanar Visitor Centre is coming up, in the former Braeloine Cottage. Park at Braeloine and cross the old arched bridge to reach its heritage displays and ranger advice.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Cairngorms Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Alder’s Underground Helpers
- The Woodland Drumroll
- Rowan Through the Seasons
- How the Mountains Divide the Rain
- 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 Riverbank Path
A short, varied loopRiverbank Path is a 4.7 km (2.9 mile) loop from Braeloine Visitor Centre.
Riverbank Path is a 4.7 km (2.9 mile) loop from Braeloine Visitor Centre. It extends the Fairy Lochan Path before returning along the Water of Tanar. Allow about 1 hour 20 minutes. The route uses crushed stone and grass, with a few short, gentle slopes. If you only want the chapel, its 1.75 km walk is the shorter option; choose Riverbank for the lochan and moraine crossing too.
Through Fairy LochanThe waymarked path passes the Chapel of St Lesmo, then crosses farmland and pine woodland on…
The waymarked path passes the Chapel of St Lesmo, then crosses farmland and pine woodland on the way to Fairy Lochan. The stone chapel dates to 1872. In summer, the lochan is a good place to look for damselflies and dragonflies.
The riverbank returnThe Riverbank extension takes you farther along the Water of Tanar, across a moraine dam, and…
The Riverbank extension takes you farther along the Water of Tanar, across a moraine dam, and back toward the visitor centre. This is the walk’s best stretch if you came for the river: you get water, wooded banks, and a change of pace from the inland path.
What the ridge left behindThe low ridge is a terminal moraine: boulders and gravel left where a glacier stopped.
The low ridge is a terminal moraine: boulders and gravel left where a glacier stopped. A loch would have formed behind it. It’s a small feature, but it gives the return walk a useful bit of glacial history to look for.
At the startAll the waymarked Glen Tanar walks start at Braeloine Visitor Centre, where there are toilets.
All the waymarked Glen Tanar walks start at Braeloine Visitor Centre, where there are toilets. Dogs can come under the Scottish Outdoor Access Code; keep them close around livestock and out of fields with lambs or calves.
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.
