The Queen's Walk, Braemar

This woodland walk, starting and finishing in Braemar, takes in most of this Queen's Drive and offers several tremendous views over Invercauld in one direction and to the distant high tops of the Cairngorms in the other. It is only three miles in length but gives a good impression of the surrounding countryside of Upper Deeside and Glen Clunie.

The walk is mainly through old woodlands of pine and larch, although much of the adjoining forest is made up of modern conifers. Braemar has an abundance of old pine forest, although the regeneration of it is made difficult by the browsing of herds of red deer. Close by, on Morrone, a National Nature Reserve protects some fine, old birch groves which grow high up the banks of the hills, up to 2,000 feet (600 metres). For entomologists the Braemar area is special for rare alpine insects including the mountain burnet moth which is unique to this region of Britain.

At the top of the climb is the Lion's Face. This great rock gets its name from the shape of the rock which allegedly looks like a lion's profile when seen from the Balmoral road. From the hilltop viewpoint there is a long gentle downhill walk to Glen Clunie. This is a lovely section of the walk, with forest on one side and open heather covered slopes of Carn nan Sgliat on the other. There are seats found at regular intervals on this part of the walk which offer tantalising views to the highest tops of the foreboding Cairgorm mountains. From Glen Clunie the road leads back into Braemar past the golf course, the youth hostel and the house where Robert Louis Stevenson stayed while writing Treasure Island.