Sgòr Buidhe Circuit, Ballater

This loop starts at Ballater’s restored railway station and climbs steeply through plantation to an open moor ridge, then descends through woodland and returns beside the River Dee. The mapped route is about 7.8 miles with roughly 410 m of ascent; allow around 3.5 hours. Published descriptions give 7.25 miles for the same station-start circuit, so the mapped line and reported distance differ by about half a mile. Check the line before setting out and allow time for the longer figure.

From the old platform, follow the cinder path and field-edge tracks to the Pass of Ballater road, then take the steep forestry track. At the saddle, leave the main track for a fainter grassy line; near the moorland information board, stay on the through route and take the muddier fork to the right. Junctions can be easy to miss, and there are short boggy stretches, especially on the wooded descent.

The open ridge looks up the Dee toward Lochnagar and across Glen Gairn. A small white boulder beside the track marks the ridge high point. The descent follows a newer track into mixed woods, passes an old steading and farmhouse, then returns on the line of a projected Ballater–Braemar railway that was never built before joining the River Dee path. Dogs are allowed under Scotland’s general access rights when properly controlled; take particular care around livestock and wildlife.