Two Lochans Trail, Cambus o’May

Two Lochans Trail is a 1.5-mile (2.5 km) loop from Cambus o’May Forest car park through Douglas firs to two lochans and an old quarry. Allow about an hour. Expect moderate effort, with uneven gravel, grassy or muddy stretches, some steep slopes, one flight of wooden steps and three bridges. Follow the red waymarkers; the blue-marked Lochside Trail is the shorter 1 km circuit around the west lochan, and yellow posts mark the longer Pine Tree Trail.

The circuit shares paths with the other forest walks before looping between the two ponds. The line in the app is a best-fit trace from a schematic map, so use the red waymarkers at the short joins where mapped paths do not meet exactly.

Both lochans sit in shallow saucer-shaped basins left by large blocks of ice detached from glaciers flowing from the Cairngorms’ centre. The water is tucked among pines and Douglas firs. Listen for red squirrels in the woods as you walk between the ponds.

An old quarry lies on the route. Stone from it was used in Ballater buildings as the village grew after Queen Victoria made Deeside fashionable.

The car park has a picnic area and viewpoint; toilets and food are in nearby Ballater, Aboyne and Dinnet, not on the loop. Dogs are welcome, but keep them very close at heel or on a lead to protect ground-nesting birds. The lochans are open water, so keep children close to the banks.