Scotland's Great Trail up the Spey from the Moray coast at Buckie to Newtonmore in the Cairngorms National Park, in the Way's eight sections and the extension from Aviemore: Spey Bay, Fochabers, Craigellachie, Ballindalloch, Grantown-on-Spey, Nethy Bridge, Boat of Garten and Aviemore.
Best season: June to September. The Way has no official season. Scotland's Great Trails says some places to stay close out of season and most are busy in season, so book ahead. The free campsite at Ballindalloch station is open from May to the end of September, and the Strathspey steam railway runs in season only. Our weather figures give June to September as the best months, with snow possible on higher ground into May. Wild camping is allowed under the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. Before you go
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Nine sections, the Way's eight and NatureScot's extension, of about 8 to 32 km. We found no place to stay at Spey Bay, so the plan walks the first two sections in one day to Fochabers. Ballindalloch has only a free campsite at the old station, from May to the end of September; out of season or without a tent, book a bed in the area well ahead. The last section, Aviemore to Newtonmore, is 32.5 km on our line: the plans break it at Insh Hall by Kincraig, about 13 km in. The plan here takes 7 days of 17 to 24 km. Choose a plan, or pick your own start, finish and nights below.
Changing where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 8 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.
Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.
Stage 1: From Buckie west along the coast to Spey Bay, much of it on the old railway: about 5 miles (8 km), easy, the Way's section page says; 9.2 km on our line. There may be cattle to pass west of Portgordon, and the old railway ballast is hard on the feet. The Mill House Hotel is about 2.7 km inland, on the A98 at Mill of Tynet. We found no place to stay at Spey Bay.
Stage 2: Up the Spey to Fochabers: about 5 miles (8 km), easy; 8.3 km on our line. The river embankment at the Birks runs awkwardly between the road and the river; the section page offers the B9104 to go round it.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The hotel's own web address shows a parked page, and we could not open the listing again to check it: confirm with the hotel that it is open. morayspeyside.com, read 13 October 2026
A village with pubs and shops, the Way's section page says. The Gordon Arms Hotel is on the High Street, about 200 m from the line.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 3: To Craigellachie: about 13 miles (20.9 km), moderate; 20.4 km on our line. There are steps near Fochabers and north of Boat o' Brig, each with a road or farm-track way round. Moray Ways still shows an undated banner about a diversion at a damaged bridge at Delfur, with a message from May 2021: if it is signed on the ground, follow it.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The hotel's own web address leads to a parked page, and we could not open the listing again to check it: confirm with the hotel that it is open. morayspeyside.com, read 13 October 2026
The Craigellachie Hotel is by the line. Do not count on the free campsite at Fiddich Park: the Way's own pages disagree on whether it is open.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 4: Along the old railway to Ballindalloch: about 12 miles (19.3 km), easy and mostly level; 19.3 km on our line. Do not count on the free campsite at Fiddich Park in Craigellachie: the Way's pages disagree on whether it is open. The section ends at the old Ballindalloch station, where the free campsite is open from May to the end of September; the village is about 1.6 km away, and beds nearby are scarce.
Overnight
Camping spot
Pick a date to check the season.
Section 4 ends at the old Ballindalloch station on the line, about 1.6 km from the village. Ballindalloch is a former railway station, not a village, and beds are hard to find, Scotland's Great Trails says: the free campsite at the station is the stay here, from May to the end of September. Book any bed nearby well ahead.
Stage 5: To Grantown-on-Spey: about 13 miles (20.9 km), moderate to hard, the Way's page says; 23.7 km on our mapped line, 2.8 km more than the official figure. It is the hardest section: many short climbs and stepping-stone crossings of streams, and slow going in wet weather between Ballindalloch and Cromdale, Scotland's Great Trails warns. Cattle graze the off-road stretch, so dogs are not advised there, and from Ballindalloch to Pollowick it is closed to bikes and horses (riders take the B9102 from Delnapot to Cromdale Bridge). The Tomintoul spur leaves at Ballindalloch; this line does not follow it.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The Grant Arms Hotel is in the town centre, about 470 m from the line. Scotland's Great Trails says hostels at or near Grantown may be open in season.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 6: Through the Cairngorms National Park to Nethy Bridge: about 6 miles (9.7 km), easy; 9.2 km on our line. The path is narrow behind the smokehouse and at Balliefurth farm.
Stage 7: To Boat of Garten: about 5 miles (8 km), easy; 7.9 km on our line, with a stretch of boardwalk. The Strathspey steam railway runs from Broomhill, by Nethy Bridge, to Aviemore in season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The Boat hotel is by the line, where section 7 ends.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 8: To Aviemore: about 6 miles (9.7 km), easy; 9.0 km on our line. The way under the railway bridges on Aviemore's orbital path is awkward.
Stage 9 begins here; its notes are with Day 7, which walks most of it.
Overnight
Hostel or bunkhouse
Pick a date to check the season.
Not a section end: Insh Hall by Kincraig, where the long last section can be broken.
Stage 9, of which this day walks part: The extension to Newtonmore: 19.5 miles (31.4 km), Scotland's Great Trails says, with Kincraig the place to break it; 32.5 km on our line. Insh Hall, at the Loch Insh Outdoor Centre by Kincraig, is about 13 km from Aviemore and 200 m from the line, so our plans stop there and walk the last 19.5 km to Newtonmore the next day. The Way's own site still lists the extension as planned; NatureScot and the Cairngorms National Park show it open.
Longest day: day 4, 6 h 46.
Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are measured on each stage's mapped line by our route analysis (terrain heights and our hiking-time model, moving time only): no time is published for these stages.Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays.Refuge dates come from the operator's own pages; when they are not published, we say so. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.
Where each stage ends, the 2026 and 2027 seasons the operator publishes, and how to book. Read from the operators' pages on 13 October 2026; each stage page shows the sources and the grade profile.
| Stage | Night at | 2026 | 2027 | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Buckie to Spey Bay | Spey Bay · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 2. Spey Bay to Fochabers | Gordon Arms Hotel notice | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 3. Fochabers to Craigellachie | The Craigellachie Hotel notice | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 4. Craigellachie to Ballindalloch | Ballindalloch Station campsite | 1 May 2026 to 30 September 2026 | not published | No booking |
| 5. Ballindalloch to Grantown-on-Spey | Grant Arms Hotel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Book online |
| 6. Grantown-on-Spey to Nethy Bridge | Nethy Bridge · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 7. Nethy Bridge to Boat of Garten | The Boat | 2026 dates not published | not published | Book online |
| 8. Boat of Garten to Aviemore | Aviemore · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 9. Aviemore to Newtonmore | Newtonmore Hostel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Book online |
Loading the forecast for low point (sea level) and high point (342 m)…
Typical weather on this trail: at the lowest point (sea level) and the highest point (342 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed |
| Stages rated good on typical weather | 0/9 | 0/9 | 3/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 9/9 | 7/9 | 0/9 |
| High point, day / night | 5°/0° | 6°/-1° | 8°/1° | 10°/2° | 13°/4° | 16°/7° | 17°/9° | 17°/9° | 15°/7° | 11°/4° | 8°/2° | 5°/-1° |
| Low point, day / night | 7°/1° | 8°/1° | 9°/2° | 11°/4° | 14°/6° | 16°/9° | 18°/11° | 18°/11° | 16°/9° | 13°/6° | 10°/4° | 7°/1° |
| Rain, mm | 128 | 93 | 88 | 61 | 69 | 74 | 73 | 87 | 85 | 117 | 110 | 115 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Possible | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Frost | Possible |
| Daylight | 7 h 17 | 9 h 25 | 11 h 42 | 14 h 14 | 16 h 31 | 17 h 57 | 17 h 24 | 15 h 22 | 12 h 54 | 10 h 28 | 8 h 06 | 6 h 41 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Book directly with each place: the Way's staff do not book beds or transport, its accommodation page says. Most places are busy in season and some close out of season, Scotland's Great Trails says, so book well ahead. Beds are scarce at Ballindalloch, a former station rather than a village, and we found none at Spey Bay. Wild camping is allowed under the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. Some hosts carry luggage if you ask when you book, and Moray Ways names Speyside Couriers for bag transfers along the Way (£17.50 a bag per transfer on 13 October 2026).
Section 5 is the hardest of the Way: moderate to hard, with many short climbs, stepping-stone crossings of streams and cattle, and slow going in wet weather between Ballindalloch and Cromdale. It is about 13 miles (20.9 km) by the Way's figure and 23.7 km on our mapped line, 2.8 km more. Allow a long day, and dogs are not advised on the off-road stretch.
Scotland's Great Trails: Speyside WayThe Way's own pages disagree about the free campsite at Fiddich Park in Craigellachie: one says Moray Council has closed its toilets and camping area, another still lists it for April to September. Do not plan a night there. The Way's home page also says the Speyside Way Visitor Centre in Aberlour, the ranger base, is closed. speysideway.org refused our second check on 13 October 2026, so check with Moray Council before you rely on either.
Speyside Way: Craigellachie to BallindallochFrom about Cromdale to Newtonmore the Way is in the Cairngorms National Park, where a byelaw bans fires and barbecues. The park's path closures page listed wildfire closures in Glenmore and Strath Nethy on 13 October 2026, none of them on the Way: read it before you set off.
Cairngorms National Park: path closuresMoray Ways' Speyside Way page still opens with an undated banner about a signed diversion round a damaged bridge at Delfur, on section 3, and a ranger message from May 2021. We could not confirm whether it still applies: follow any diversion signs on the ground.
Moray Ways: the Speyside WayThe Way has a spur from Ballindalloch to Tomintoul, the highest village in the Highlands: 25 km more and 865 m of climb over wild, exposed moorland, waymarked, but you need a map and compass in low cloud. This guide's line and plans leave it out.
Scotland's Great Trails: Speyside WayClosures and notices last checked 13 October 2026: Cairngorms National Park: path closures · Moray Ways: Speyside Way diversion banner · Scotland's Great Trails: Speyside Way warnings. Check them again before you set out.
Getting there
Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Buses link Elgin with Buckie; between Spey Bay and Buckie they run only on Fridays and Saturdays, the Way's transport page says. The page is undated: check current times on Traveline Scotland.
Traveline Scotland: journey plannerIn the Cairngorms, a bus links Cromdale, Grantown-on-Spey, Nethy Bridge, Boat of Garten and Aviemore, and the Strathspey steam railway runs from Broomhill to Aviemore in season. Aviemore has a railway station. Check times on Traveline Scotland.
Strathspey RailwayThe Way's transport page names ScotRail trains and Scottish Citylink coaches for this end of the Way, Citylink from Aviemore to Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh. The page is undated: check times from Newtonmore on Traveline Scotland.
Traveline Scotland: journey plannerTake your trip with you
Prepare each section while you still have a connection: in the forests and on the moor between Ballindalloch and Grantown the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Scotland's Great Trails gives 137 km from Buckie to Newtonmore and 6 to 9 days, in 9 sections on our map. The guide's day planner offers a 7-day plan on the overnight stops, and you can choose your own nights.
June to September. The Way has no official season.
Buses link Elgin with Buckie; between Spey Bay and Buckie they run only on Fridays and Saturdays, the Way's transport page says. The "Connect your journey" section has the travel details, with 2 more travel notes.
Book directly with each place: the Way's staff do not book beds or transport, its accommodation page says.
Yes: the whole route and every section, free, for a GPS watch or a phone. The guide also saves your plan for offline use in the app.
Closures we know of are shown on the days and sections they affect, in the day planner and on the stage pages. We watch 3 official notice pages (Cairngorms National Park: path closures; Moray Ways: Speyside Way diversion banner; Scotland's Great Trails: Speyside Way warnings); the date we last read them is shown with the notices on this page. Check them again before you set off.
Route & sources
The Speyside Way's own site (speysideway.org) gives eight sections from Buckie to Aviemore, about 65 miles (about 105 km), in miles only; Scotland's Great Trails (NatureScot) adds the extension from Aviemore to Newtonmore, 19.5 miles (31.4 km), and gives 137 km for the whole Way, with 1485 m of climb. The Way's own site still says the extension is planned, while NatureScot and the Cairngorms National Park treat Newtonmore as the end. The Way publishes no stage times, and nor does NatureScot, so the times here are measured on our line. The kilometres on each section are our conversions of the miles, and speysideway.org refused our second check, so read them as about. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 1026251, from the planet of 11 October 2026): 139.5 km from Buckie to Newtonmore, cut at the nine section ends. It leaves out the Tomintoul spur, 25 km from Ballindalloch over open moorland with 865 m of climb, which is part of the Way but not of this line. Every section but one is within 1.2 km of the official figure. Ballindalloch to Grantown-on-Spey is 23.7 km on the mapped line against about 20.9 km (13 miles): 2.8 km over, and the hardest ground of the Way. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep banks are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Scotland's Great Trails: Speyside WayMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation
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