Speyside Way

Speyside Way
A walker on the Tomintoul spur
Length	130 km (81 mi)
Location	Scotland
Designation	Long Distance Route
Trailheads	Aviemore Buckie
Use	Hiking
Hiking details
Season	All year

The Speyside Way is a Long Distance Route that follows the River Spey through some of Banffshire, Morayshire and Inverness-shire's most beautiful scenery. It is one of four Long Distance Routes in Scotland. It begins in Aviemore and ends at Buckpool harbour in Buckie, some 65 miles away. There is a spur leading off the main route to Tomintoul bringing the total distance up to 80 miles (130 kilometres).

The Way is clearly marked with a symbol showing a thistle in a hexagon. The route generally follows the valley of the River Spey, passing some of the distilleries that produce Speyside single malts. The final five miles from Spey Bay to Buckie follow the coastline.

An extension of the route from Aviemore to Newtonmore is currently being progressed. This extension would lengthen the total route by 34.8 km, roughly following the route of the River Spey and utilising part of the Sustrans cycle route.

A formal proposal has now been submitted and has received approval in principle from Scottish Ministers, but it still looks likely that not all landowners will be in agreement with the designated route. If instructed by the Scottish Ministers, the Cairngorms National Park Authority can implement the route against landowners' wishes under the Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967 and the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. Negotiations are still underway to attempt to avoid this situation.

The path follows most of the route of the former Strathspey Railway.

External links

• Official site for the Speyside Way
• Information for the Speyside Way
• Speyside Way details and mapping on Walkhighlands