Parking
Use the parking area off the minor road signed for Delnabo, taking the left fork before the road drops steeply. The track at the far end of the parking area starts the loop. Walking from Tomintoul adds about 1 km along the road each way.
Overview
About Tomintoul Country Trail
This is a 3.1-mile loop from the parking area southwest of Tomintoul, with a short signed out-and-back spur to Queen’s View. Allow about 2½ hours. The route links hillside tracks above Keppoch, a stream crossing, sparse birch, farm roads and the River Avon; the Glen Avon view is its main reward. A separate published figure is 4¼ miles. That may include the 1 km road approach from Tomintoul each way, but the starting convention is unclear, so choose your access before comparing distances.
Why go
- A signed Queen’s View detour gives the loop a memorable highlight.
- Low elevation and open Glen Avon scenery make this a gentle country walk.
Heads up
- Some track sections can be boggy, and the return climb is steep.
- Much of the circuit follows farm tracks and minor road.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Cairngorms map
Full mapElevation309–380 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 Tomintoul Country 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
Queen’s View over Glen Avon0:00 / 0:22
“You're approaching Queen's View, where a short stepped spur overlooks Glen Avon. Queen Victoria is said to have stopped here on horseback in eighteen sixty.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Cairngorms Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Glenlivet Estate Visitor Centre and Mindfulness Trail
- Tomintoul Square, Museum and Whisky Castle
- Still Viewpoint’s Mirrored Frame
- Glenmulliach Forest’s Planet Trail
- 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 Tomintoul Country Trail
How the route unfoldsFrom the car park, follow the track beyond the gate and take the signed stepped path left to…
From the car park, follow the track beyond the gate and take the signed stepped path left to Queen’s View. Return to the main track and continue above Keppoch along the glen. Cross a stream bridge, then descend through sparse birch to a tarmac track. Turn toward the River Avon, cross its bridge and follow farm tracks past a house and barn, another house and a cattle grid. At Delnabo the road bends sharply beside the river; cross the next bridge, turn right and climb steeply back to the parking area.
Footing and effortThe walk is graded easy and has only about 40 m of reported ascent, but it is not a surfaced…
The walk is graded easy and has only about 40 m of reported ascent, but it is not a surfaced path throughout. Expect a mix of tracks, minor road and potentially boggy ground; the final climb back to the car park is the steepest part. Take care on the stepped viewpoint spur and at both bridge crossings.
Queen’s ViewThe signed detour reaches an open outlook over Glen Avon, with the river valley, wooded slopes…
The signed detour reaches an open outlook over Glen Avon, with the river valley, wooded slopes and distant hills in view. This is the route’s defining stop and its best place to frame a photograph. Queen Victoria is associated with stopping here on a horseback journey in 1860.
Glen Avon and Ben AvonThe track looks across the glen to Keppoch and the heather moor behind it.
The track looks across the glen to Keppoch and the heather moor behind it. In late summer the heather can turn the slopes purple; managed grouse moorland is visible as striped patches with little taller vegetation. On a clear day, look up the glen for the distant tors of Ben Avon.
Farm access and dogsThis route passes through farmland and uses minor roads.
This route passes through farmland and uses minor roads. Follow local signs, leave gates as you find them and keep dogs close around livestock, using a lead where requested. Do not take a dog into a field with young livestock.
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.
