Glen Tanar: Circular Around Creag na Slice

Ian Cordiner

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Glen Tanar is a popular place for walkers, but this walk is more off the beaten track. It is a walk of great variety, which mixes grassland; moorland; native pine forests and some wonderful views of hills near and far. Some paths may be a bit narrow, overgrown or indistinct but they lead you through some of the best scenery in Glen Tanar.

The walk starts at a wooded car park near the Braeloine Visitor Centre, where there are toilets.

The route starts with a short climb up a grassy path along a marked route. This is followed by a short stretch of tarred road which gives way to farm tracks. By now the trees have been left behind and the scenery is more rural. After passing the pastoral scenery the walk rises again and eventually reaches open moorland with good views over Deeside. Next the open heather scenery leads to a forested section where the narrow track descends to a much wider forest road. Following on from this, the woodland leads through the much older Caledonian pine woods with a carpet of heather under the canopy. The walk concludes by following close to the Tanar Water before returning, passing a tiny chapel on the way back to the start.

Scotland - Northeast Scotland - Aberdeenshire - Deeside and Glen Tanar

11/22/2021 - Walkingworld Admin

Please note that this route has been updated November 2021 to reflect Colin's feedback and now starts at the car parking area at the Bridge of Tanar.

11/1/2021 - Colin Young

Re previous comment - Graham was quite correct - we had missed the gate! Did the walk again last week. As the top car park is currently closed we left from the bottom one by going straight up the Firmounth which continues from the back of the car park. This too us to the diversion we described earlier. At the finish we stayed on the riverside track and crossed the Tanar to stroll past the chapel and then to the car park. Still a very enjoyable walk!

4/16/2017 - Graham MacEwen

Re previous comment, I think the confusion lies in which gate. It is not the gate on the main track but a gate on the left entering a field before you reach the gate on the main track. In any case the track is now very clear heading up the hill.

10/22/2015 - Colin Young

This is a brilliant walk - with woods, moorland and wonderful views. We were puzzled at waymark 4, as although the gate is there we could not see any track going up the field. Fortuitously we met a local resident who walked the area a lot who explained that the track had gone and the forestry on top of the hill had been harvested so the proposed path would be difficult. He suggested continuing NE to pass Belrorie cottage on the tarmac road, then bearing left at the Firmounth stone to reach Newton cottage and hence pick up the remainder of the planned walk. So this was what we did and found it excellent! (part of this ties in with another walk) The gate at waymark 11 is easily missed if you are talking too much!It is now a normal sized gate and not as high as the photo shows. Our diversion increased the distance to 10 miles/16k