The Colonel’s Bed Walk

The Colonel’s Bed is a 3-mile (4.9 km) out-and-back from Meikle Inverey into Glen Ey, ending above a narrow rocky gorge. Allow about 1½ hours. A broad estate track climbs through most of the glen, then a short, rough path leads to the rim. It’s a compact walk for a very particular destination, but the final edge needs respect.

Leave the car park on the Glen Ey track. As it rises through Inverey, views open toward Ben Macdui and Derry Cairngorm. Cross the wooden bridge over the River Ey and continue on the landrover track; after roughly a kilometre in the glen, leave at a small cairn for the narrow heather path. A wooden sign marks the final approach. Some older maps show a west-bank bridge that is no longer there, so follow the present route rather than that obsolete line.

The path is narrow and rough at the end. View the gorge from above; do not descend. Its rock walls and the ledge associated with the name have partly collapsed, and the rim is unguarded and can be slippery. The payoff is the steep-sided cut of the stream, with dark rock walls and a tight view into the ravine. From the marked rim, frame the water between the rock walls; there is no safe reason to scramble closer.

Local legend says an outlawed colonel hid in the gorge after killing a laird, with his lover bringing him food. The details belong to local tradition rather than settled history, but they explain the name. Return to Meikle Inverey by the same route. Dogs may accompany walkers under Scotland’s responsible-access rules; keep them under proper control and well back from the exposed edge.