Family walks in the Cairngorms National Park

Seven walks for children in Britain's biggest national park: lochs, corries, castles and a trail with painted wildcats to find.

By the TRXO team · 26 Oct 2026 · 4 min read

walks: 7
long: 4.3–11.6 km
biggest climb: 350 m
by public transport: 4
dog-friendly: 7

The Cairngorms is the biggest national park in Britain, and most of it is high, wild and no place for a six-year-old. But round the edges, in Badenoch, Deeside and the Angus glens, there's a whole set of walks that work for families: tracks round lochs, paths into corries, old castles and forests with wildlife in them, all with somewhere to get a hot chocolate afterwards.

These seven are the ones we'd take our own children on. They're ordered from the gentlest, a village trail with painted wildcats hidden along it, to two half-day walks that a ten-year-old who likes walking will be proud of. None of them goes onto the high tops.

Where they are

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Julian Paren · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Newtonmore

The Newtonmore Wildcat Trail
- 6.7 km distance
- 120 m ascent
- 1.5–2.5 h time
- Easy grade
- by public transport
- dogs welcome
A waymarked loop round the village of Newtonmore by the rivers and the mouth of Glen Banchor, with more than a hundred painted wildcats hidden along it for children to spot. Get the trail map from the village and make it a hunt. The Highland Folk Museum, an open-air village of old buildings, is at the far end.

Route, map and GPX
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Mags49 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Kingussie

Ruthven Barracks and Insh Marshes
- 5.4 km distance
- 30 m ascent
- 1–1.5 h time
- Easy grade
- by public transport
- dogs welcome
An easy walk from Kingussie across the Spey to a ruined barracks on a mound, where children can run round the walls, and on to the bird hides at Insh Marshes. In winter the marshes are full of whooper swans; in spring it's curlews and lapwings. Flat, short, and with a station at the start.

Route, map and GPX
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Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Kingussie

Loch Gynack from Kingussie
- 5.6 km distance
- 190 m ascent
- 1.5–2 h time
- Easy grade
- by public transport
- dogs welcome
A climb through the pinewoods above Kingussie to a quiet loch in the hills, with the Cairngorms across the strath behind you. Long enough to feel like an expedition, short enough to be back for lunch, and the track is good all the way.

Route, map and GPX
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Steven Brown · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Ballater

Craigendarroch from Ballater
- 4.3 km distance
- 220 m ascent
- 1.5–2 h time
- Moderate grade
- by public transport
- dogs welcome
The oak-covered hill that rises straight out of Ballater. The path spirals up through the trees to a summit at 402 m with the Dee below and Lochnagar filling the sky, and it's steep enough that children feel they've climbed a mountain. An hour and a half, then the Ballater bakeries.

Route, map and GPX
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Russel Wills · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Glen Clova

Loch Brandy from Clova
- 5.1 km distance
- 350 m ascent
- 2–2.5 h time
- Moderate grade
- dogs welcome
A steep path from the Glen Clova Hotel to a dark corrie loch held in by a horseshoe of cliffs. It's a real climb, 350 m in under three kilometres, but the path is clear and the loch at the top is the kind of place children remember. Throw stones, eat sandwiches, come down. The hotel does chips.

Route, map and GPX
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Aleks Scholz · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Glen Doll

Corrie Fee from Glen Doll
- 11.6 km distance
- 270 m ascent
- 3–4 h time
- Moderate grade
- dogs welcome
A forest track from the Glen Doll car park leads to the mouth of Corrie Fee, a huge glacial amphitheatre with a waterfall at the back and, in summer, rare alpine flowers on the ledges. It's 11 km there and back on an easy gradient, which is a long way for small legs but a great day for anyone over eight. Red deer are almost guaranteed.

Route, map and GPX
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Richard Sutcliffe · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Spittal of Glenmuick

Loch Muick circuit
- 11.1 km distance
- 240 m ascent
- 3–4 h time
- Moderate grade
- dogs welcome
The grandest of the lot: a track right round Loch Muick on the Balmoral estate, below the corries of Lochnagar, past the lodge Queen Victoria built when she was widowed. Eleven kilometres and flat, so it's about stamina rather than difficulty. Deer, a boathouse, a waterfall, and a visitor centre with toilets at the start.

Route, map and GPX

Before you go

Kingussie and Newtonmore both have stations on the Highland line; the Deeside and Angus walks need a car.
The glens are midge country from June to September. Repellent, long sleeves, and don't stand still by the water in the evening.
The Spittal of Glenmuick and Glen Doll car parks charge, and Glen Doll's road is long and single-track at the end.
Deer stalking affects the hills above these walks from August to October, but not the walks themselves.

Questions people ask

What is the easiest walk in the Cairngorms for children?

The Newtonmore Wildcat Trail: flat, by the river, with painted wildcats hidden along the route to find. Ruthven Barracks from Kingussie is nearly as easy and has a castle to climb on.

Can you walk round Loch Muick with a pushchair?

The north-shore track from the car park is wide and firm enough for a sturdy pushchair as far as Glas-allt-Shiel. The full circuit has rough and wet sections on the south side.

Which Cairngorms walks have a café at the end?

Ballater (Craigendarroch), Kingussie and Newtonmore all have bakeries and cafés; the Glen Clova Hotel is at the foot of Loch Brandy; the Spittal of Glenmuick has toilets but no café.

Where they are

The Newtonmore Wildcat Trail

Ruthven Barracks and Insh Marshes

Loch Gynack from Kingussie

Craigendarroch from Ballater

Loch Brandy from Clova

Corrie Fee from Glen Doll

Loch Muick circuit

Before you go

Questions people ask

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