Kingussie, Newtonmore Wild Cat trail and Loch Gynack

This is a medium length route of 16km / 10 miles suitable for mountain bikes. Some sections are on tarmac and estate tracks but others are on rough paths and for one section the bike will need to be lifted over a number of fences. Allow 2 hours. Ordinance Survey sheet 35 Kingussie and Monadliath Mountains. Refreshments: Cafes and bars in Kingussie and Newtonmore. Start in the centre of Kingussie and take the dedicated cycle track to Newtonmore. Turn right up the Glen Road in Newtonmore town centre and follow this quiet road until you reach a signpost for the Wildcat trail on your right. Follow the Wildcat Trail waymarks through light woodland and sheep fields where the terrain is rough in places. The bike will need to be lifted over a number of styles and fences on this stretch (it may be easier to divert and cycle down the adjacent field). When the trail emerges out onto open countryside take an estate track a few meters to the right and then almost immediately turn left and uphill alongside a small burn. This estate track narrows to single track after a while but continue to follow it until you come to a gate and a green waymark pointing right to Kingussie. The surface is better here and leads along the edge of a conifer forest until you reach a bridge over a burn and a large estate gate to the left. Go through this gate and follow the wide track uphill and through a 2nd gate. Turn right here and follow this well surfaced estate track along the northside of the scenic Loch Gynack. When you reach the far side of the Loch follow the way marks for Kingussie. After crossing the newly reinstated bridge over the Gynack (the previous bridge was washed away by the tail of Hurricane Bertha in August 2014!) it is then all downhill on a quiet smooth tarmac road back down to Kingussie.

 

Cycle Friendly Kingussie