Upper Glen Feshie and Ruigh Aiteachain Trail

Upper Glen Feshie and Ruigh Aiteachain is an 11.75-mile (19 km) out-and-back from the Glen Feshie car park to the An Cagàin landslide, passing Ruigh Aiteachain bothy on the way. Allow five to six hours for about 320 m of ascent. It’s a long, remote valley walk rather than a summit climb: you get riverside paths, pinewood, heather and a view back down the glen. The bothy is a natural place to turn back if you don’t want the full route; the mapped return to it is about 12.2 km. Keep your plan flexible because two burn crossings can become unsafe or impassable after heavy rain.

Start at the walkers’ car park on the road to Achlean. Follow the tarmac briefly, turn left onto the track before Achlean, ignore the mast spur and keep right at the fork marked “Upper Glen Feshie” on a boulder. After a gate, the route leaves the road for a path above the river’s floodplain. It’s a mix of tracks and less obvious paths, with forks where the intended line can be easy to miss; carry a map and keep an eye on the route rather than expecting continuous waymarks.

The first fast burn is a ford. Farther on, stay left at the confluence where the old main path has washed out, then cross Allt Garbhlach, often by fording it. Logs may be set across in summer, but don’t count on them. The path climbs through pine and heather, drops to a grassy track, then rises again before opening onto the glen floor. The ground can be wet underfoot, and the river crossings are the main reason to choose a dry, settled day.

A small stone bothy sits where the pines thin out. It’s an open, basic shelter with a stove and composting toilet, not a staffed stop or a place to buy supplies, so bring food and water. Sir Edwin Landseer watched red deer in this area while working on The Monarch of the Glen. The story is often attached to the present bothy, but his preliminary sketches were made in a neighboring building that is now ruined.

The longer version continues through a more open stretch, then back into pines close to the River Feshie. Floods have cut away parts of the path, including steep slopes that need careful passage. At the An Cagàin landslide, a worn track crosses the slip; just beyond it, the view opens back down the glen. That look behind is the payoff for going beyond the bothy. Turn around here for the described walk and retrace the same corridor.

Glen Feshie’s old Scots pinewoods were struggling to regenerate under heavy deer browsing. After Wildland acquired the estate in 2006, lower deer numbers helped the native woodland begin to recover. The route moves between open ground and pinewood, so the changing edge of the forest is part of the walk, not just a backdrop. Dogs are allowed under Scotland’s access rules, but keep them under proper control.