Qualla: Speyside Way

Speyside Way: Introduction

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The trail begins where the salt air still carries fish and ends where snow lingers into June. Between Buckie on the Moray coast and Newtonmore at the head of the strath, the Speyside Way threads more than a hundred miles up the River Spey, much of it riding the old trackbed of the dismantled Strathspey Railway. You walk past distilleries whose names sit on the back labels of bottles in bars on every continent. You cross moors where cattle have been known to face down dogs. And in one stretch, climbing twice over 1,800 feet, you find yourself in the muddy heart of Cairngorms National Park, where the path turns from firm gravel to bog and the cyclists you have been envying turn back.

Read more: Speyside Way on Qualla

Speyside Way: A Trail Built from a Vanished Railway

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Speyside Way was created in 1981, originally running only from the coast to Ballindalloch - about half the route as it stands today. Extensions came in stages, the most recent reaching Newtonmore in 2021. Much of the path follows the trackbed of the Strathspey Railway, which ...

Read more: Speyside Way on Qualla

Speyside Way: Distillery Country

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Roughly a third of the way up the trail, the path enters the most concentrated whisky-distilling region on Earth. The Macallan, Aberlour, Glenfiddich, and Glenlivet all draw water from the Spey or its tributaries, and several open their doors to visitors who arrive on foot. A fou...

Read more: Speyside Way on Qualla

Speyside Way: Tomintoul and the Royal Verdict

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The spur to Tomintoul climbs into the Cairngorms and ends at one of the highest villages in the Highlands - only Wanlockhead and Leadhills, above Clydesdale, sit higher. Tomintoul was laid out on a grid in the 18th century by the Duke of Gordon, who thought a planned settlement w...

Read more: Speyside Way on Qualla

Speyside Way: Where the Strath Broadens

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Beyond Cromdale, where dog owners are warned about cattle that have been known to attack, the trail enters firmer country and descends into Grantown-on-Spey, a large resort village laid out by Sir James Grant in 1765 - Tomintoul, further south, was built by the Duke of Gordon. Fr...

Read more: Speyside Way on Qualla