Snow Roads Scenic Route (205 km)

Blairgowrie to Grantown on Spey · one way, about 205 km back to the start

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Why this ride

A one-way ride of 205 km, Blairgowrie to Grantown on Spey - roughly 2 h 47 in the saddle. It goes by way of Braemar, Lecht Pass and Tomintoul. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.

Roadbook

1. Blairgowrie start

   Blairgowrie is where the Perthshire farmland ends and the Highlands begin to show their hand. The town sits on the River Ericht, which comes tumbling out of Glenshee and, in the old days, turned the wheels of dozens of jute and flax mills; the stone mill buildings still line the river. Behind it the hills close in, and in front lies Strathmore, a broad, red-soiled plain that grows most of Scotland's raspberries. In July the fields are full of pickers, and you can smell the fruit from the road with your visor up.

   Two odd things are within easy reach. Six miles south at Meikleour stands a beech hedge, planted in 1745, that is recognised as the tallest in the world and about as high as a six-storey building. It runs along the A93 for a third of a mile and is trimmed by crews on platforms only every ten years or so. North of town begins the A93 itself, the road that matters: up through Bridge of Cally, the Spittal of Glenshee and over the Cairnwell, one of the highest main roads in Britain, with the ski tows right beside the tarmac. Beyond is Braemar and Royal Deeside. The first miles run through wooded gorge and then open moorland, and the surface is generally good with a few frost heaves.

   This is the start of the Snow Roads route, which links Blairgowrie to Grantown-on-Spey over the high ground of the Cairngorms National Park. In winter the Cairnwell section can close in snow, and gates are used, so check before a spring or autumn start. Even in May there can be snow on the verges. The weather up there changes fast; set off in sunshine and you can be wearing everything you own by the top.

   You are in a town of almost nine thousand, which means fuel, shops and a good bakery or two on the high street. Fill up properly here. After Blairgowrie the next regular pumps on this road are a long way along, and the hills do not let you coast. Leave early and the glen will be quiet, with deer on the lower slopes and the occasional pheasant too dim to leave the tarmac.

2. Braemar scenic

   Braemar is the kind of Highland village where the cold is part of the identity. It sits at about three hundred and thirty metres in the upper valley of the River Dee, ringed by the Cairngorm hills, and it holds a record for the lowest temperature ever measured in Britain, shared with another Highland site: minus 27.2 degrees Celsius, in 1895. Even in summer a night here can be frosty. By day, in good weather, the village is a pleasant cluster of grey stone buildings with a small castle, a few cafés and shops, and a steady stream of walkers heading for the hills.

   The village is also famous for the Braemar Gathering, a Highland games held on the first Saturday of September, with caber tossing, hill racing, piping and dancing, which members of the royal family traditionally attend, since Balmoral Castle lies about fifteen kilometres down the valley. Braemar Castle, a seventeenth-century fortress later used as a Hanoverian garrison after the Jacobite risings, stands just outside the village, and it is run by the local community.

   The riding is a main reason to come. From the south, the A93 climbs from Blairgowrie over the Glenshee pass, which at 665 metres is the highest main road in Britain, and descends into Braemar through a wild upland landscape of heather, grouse moor and bare hills. It is a fine road, with wide, open bends and good surface, but the weather can be fierce. Snow can come as early as October and as late as May, and the road is often closed in winter, with gates at both ends. In summer, the heather turns purple in August, and the long days mean you can ride into the evening. Watch for sheep, deer and slow-moving campervans.

   Down the valley, the A93 follows the Dee through pine forest towards Ballater, with the river on one side and the Cairngorm foothills on the other. It is a lovely road, with a mix of open stretches and gentle bends, and you may see red deer, red squirrels and even golden eagles. Beyond the village, a narrow road runs to the Linn of Dee, where the river is squeezed through a rocky gorge, a good place for a short walk.

   Braemar has a few cafés, a bakery, small hotels and some shops, and there is normally a small filling station, but it is wise not to rely on it. Ballater, about twenty-two kilometres to the east, is the nearest sure option. A hot drink and a slice of cake at a village café is the best response to the weather.

3. Lecht Pass scenic · 637 m

   The Lecht is a bare, high saddle on the A939 between Tomintoul and Corgarff, and it has one of the stiffest gradients on the public roads of the Scottish Highlands. Signs warn of a slope of one in five on the approach, which means rising a metre for every five you travel. The summit, at 637 metres, is a wide, windswept moor with a small ski centre, fenced runs of snow and a few lonely buildings. Even in July the wind can cut through a jacket, and the temperature is often well below that of the valleys.

   The road is old. It follows the line of a military road built after the Jacobite rising of 1745 to link the garrison at Corgarff with the north, part of a network that the government constructed to keep the Highlands under control. Corgarff Castle, a tower house later surrounded by a star-shaped wall, was used as a barracks, and it still stands near the road on the south side, a few kilometres from the pass. Nearby, the ruins of old iron and manganese workings at the Lecht mine recall the days when this empty land was a place of industry.

   From a rider's point of view, the Lecht is an exciting stretch, though a short one. The climb from Tomintoul is steady, with long, open curves and a smooth surface, and the descent toward Corgarff is steeper and more twisting, with a couple of tight bends and a long straight at the bottom. Expect sheep on the road, and the occasional cyclist labouring up the climb. The road is on the Snow Roads route, and it is one of the first to close when winter comes, with snow gates at the bottom, so check conditions before you set out between November and April.

   The land around is open moorland of heather and peat, with grouse and mountain hares, and, in the distance, the long, rounded shapes of the Cromdale hills. In late summer, the heather turns the hills purple, and the light on the moor is often wonderful in the evening. At the ski centre, a café sometimes opens in season, but you should not count on it.

   Tomintoul has some services, but for a sure fill, head to Ballater, about twenty-one kilometres east, or Grantown-on-Spey. Bring warm layers and waterproofs, and check the forecast before you commit.

4. Tomintoul scenic

   Tomintoul likes to call itself the highest village in the Highlands, and at around three hundred and fifty metres, it is certainly high enough that the winters bite. It sits on the edge of the Cromdale hills, between Speyside and the Cairngorms, in a wide, bare landscape of heather moor and rolling hills. The village was laid out in 1775 by the Duke of Gordon as a planned settlement, with a wide main street and a central square, and the plan can still be traced in its long, straight shape. It is neat, grey and rather windswept, and it has a certain stubborn charm.

   The area around it is whisky country. The Glenlivet valley lies just to the south-west, where George Smith's distillery, licensed in 1824, was one of the first legal producers after a long period of illicit distilling, when smugglers hid stills in the hills and bribed or dodged the excisemen. The valley still has the feel of a quiet, secret place. Several distilleries in the district welcome visitors, and the Speyside Way, a long-distance footpath, has a spur that ends at Tomintoul. The area is also a designated Dark Sky Park, and on a clear, moonless night the stars are extraordinary.

   The roads around Tomintoul are some of the best in Scotland. The A939 runs north to Grantown-on-Spey over moorland, and south over the Lecht toward Ballater and Deeside, with long, open bends, high views and surprisingly little traffic. The surface is usually good, though the weather can turn quickly. In winter, snow and ice make the road hazardous, and snow gates close it, so check before you ride from late autumn to spring. Summer brings the heather, and the evening light is soft and long. Watch for sheep, deer and the occasional tractor.

   The countryside is a mix of high moor, small farms and pockets of birch and pine, with the River Avon, pronounced A'an, flowing through a deep glen close by. Wildlife includes red grouse, curlew, lapwing, red deer and, with luck, the odd golden eagle. The air is thin and clean, and smells of peat and heather.

   Tomintoul has a few shops, cafés, small hotels and a small visitor centre, and a fuel pump has historically been available, though hours can be limited, so do not rely on it. Grantown-on-Spey, about sixteen kilometres north, is the safer place to fill up. A bowl of soup and a cup of tea at one of the village cafés is a good plan for a cold day, and a dram of local whisky, preferably after the ride, is almost obligatory.

5. Grantown on Spey finish

   Grantown-on-Spey was a planned town, founded in 1765 by Sir James Grant of Grant, who wanted a tidy settlement for weavers and a base for his estate. It is the end of the Snow Roads, and it is a good one.

   The ride that finishes here, from Blairgowrie over the Cairnwell, the Lecht and Tomintoul, covers some of the highest public roads in Britain. The A93 climbs to over six hundred metres at the Cairnwell, the highest main road in the country, and the A939 crosses the Lecht, with bleak moorland, heather and, in winter, deep snow. Snow gates close the roads in bad weather, so check conditions in the colder months. The surface is mostly good, the bends are open, and the views stretch for miles. Wind and rain can arrive suddenly, so bring layers even in summer.

   Grantown is the heart of Strathspey, and the landscape around is a mixture of pine forest, moor and river. Ospreys nest at Loch Garten nearby, and red squirrels, capercaillie and crested tits live in the old Caledonian pinewood of Abernethy. The Spey itself, Scotland's second-longest river, runs fast and clear, and is famous for its salmon. This is also whisky country: the Speyside distilleries, including Cragganmore and The Glenlivet, are within a short ride, and the area produces a large share of Scotland's malt.

   Fuel is available in Grantown, which has a few thousand people, and it is wise to fill up here before heading anywhere else, because the next big towns, Aviemore and Forres, are twenty and thirty kilometres away. The town has several cafes, bakeries and hotels, and a bowl of hot soup after the Lecht is a pleasure.

   Walk down the main street in the late afternoon, when the light on the granite turns warm, and feel the quiet that has settled over the moor.

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