Balcorrach - Creagan a' Chaise

Kenny Mathieson

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This fine outing begins with a 2.5-kilometre walk on a quiet, minor, tarmac road alongside the River Avon (properly pronounced A'an from its Gaelic origin and not as in Stratford-upon-Avon) to the house at Milton and an estate track onto the open hill. It climbs onto a flat plateau and crosses to the summit of Creagan a' Chaise, one of two 'Grahams' (a Scottish hill between 2,000 and 2,500 feet in height) in the Hills of Cromdale. The summit is marked by a trig point and a huge cairn erected to commemorate the jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign in 1897 (this walk is all on the Crown Estate’s Glenlivet land – the boundary lies just north of the summit). There is usually a visitors' book tucked into the recess which holds the commemorative plaque (be sure to return it securely to its waterproof wrapping). Views are superb in all directions, with the Cairngorms majestically arrayed to the south (the town prominent in the north-west view is Grantown-on-Spey).

Return is by the same route; take care to orient yourself correctly when leaving the cairn. The grouse butts passed on the ascent are an indication that this is a shooting estate and in grouse season, which opens on 12th August and usually runs through September, it is advisable to check with the Ranger Service on access (01807-580283), while general acess advice and useful information is available online at www.glenlivetestate.co.uk/access.html. There is no shooting on Sundays. The proximity of the Cairngorms and the Ladder Hills usually ensure that these hills are quiet.

Scotland - Highlands and Islands - Highland - Strathspey