Time on Feet

Route details

Starting in the centre of Braemar, a beautiful village nestled in the heart of the cairngorm national park. Head south on the military road and cross the river at a small footbridge around 400m in. Follow the grassy path through fields until you reach the main road heading south towards glenshee. From here, turn right and follow the signs for the Queen’s drive which shortly begins to head uphill.

The climb is fairly gradual and a good surface as it winds through the forest. At the high point it would be possible to make it a full on hill run but this route continues on the main path as it drops down towards the road that heads to Balmoral. Once you get down to the road there is a trail that runs parallel. Follow this back towards Braemar castle. The trail is a bit slow going at times, narrow and twisty with a few roots, but it is perfectly runnable.

Take a short detour to check out Braemar castle if you wish, before returning to Braemar on the main road. This run is roughly at the hill run criteria of 100ft per mile but it is slightly under and never really feels like a hill run and never gets particularly steep. Some of the climbing comes from lots of bumps on the return trail so you don’t really notice it, hence being included in the easy run section.