A ruined castle on a tiny island, ringed by old Caledonian pines and one of the loveliest short walks in the Cairngorms
Loch an Eilein means “loch of the island”, and there is a ruined castle on the island a little way off the shore. Loch an Eilein Castle goes back to at least the 13th century and was a stronghold linked to the Comyns and later the Grant family; from the bank you can see its broken walls rising straight out of the water. The loch sits within Rothiemurchus, and the pinewood around it is a surviving fragment of the old Caledonian forest that once spread across much of the Highlands, all Scots pine, juniper and heather.
The main reason to come is the path that runs the whole way round, an easy walk of about three to four miles on good tracks and level enough for most families. Red squirrels, crossbills and crested tits live in these woods, and the loch is known for the echo that bounces back off the castle walls. Ospreys once nested on the island here, in the days before they were wiped out in Scotland.
You get to the car park by a minor road south of Aviemore, near Inverdruie; there is a charge to park, and a small visitor point by the shore. Aviemore is a few miles north with the shops, the railway and places to eat. It is an all-weather sort of outing, though the pines look their best with a bit of low sun on them.
