More images

More (5)

Moorland on Morrone

Recommended by

Our view

"The hill at the back of Braemar gives a taste of the Cairngorms."

Walk directions

Take the wide track uphill, to the right of the duck pond at the top of Chapel Brae, bearing left following a signpost 'Morrrone'. When you see Woodhill house ahead, it can be bypassed by taking a small footpath on the right, which rejoins the track just above. When the track bends right, take a path up ahead to a viewpoint indicator.

Cross a track diagonally to a hill path marked 'Morrone'. The path has been rebuilt with rough stone steps. Higher up, it slants to the right along a line of small rocky outcrops. At the top of this it turns directly uphill, passing five sprawling cairns. These are the turning point in the Morrone Hill Race that is part of the Braemar Games. The wide, stony path runs up to the radio mast and other ugly constructions on top of the summit.

View all directions

Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Well-made but fairly steep path, track, 1 stile

Landscape - Rolling heather hills

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead in reserve, also on hill during grouse nesting May/June

Parking - Duck pond, at top of Chapel Brae, Braemar

Toilets en route - Balnellan Road car park, Braemar centre

Walks in Aberdeenshire Dog-friendly walks in Aberdeenshire

About the walk

Coming down the back of Morrone Hill, you descend through several plant zones, and the home of two distinctive Grampian birds. Ptarmigan pterritory On the windswept, often snow-covered summit plateau, gravel alternates with shrubby plants that grow barely ankle-high. These are food for the... ptarmigan, a member of the grouse family that's rather like a small hen. Uniquely among British birds it turns white in the winter, and in spring and early summer it will still be white in patches. Its late summer plumage is paler than the grouse, and more speckled. But the easy way to recognise it is by where it lives – a grouse above the heather line is a ptarmigan – and by its behaviour. It relies on camouflage, and when you notice it, will probably be standing on the gravel only a few yards away. Even then, it doesn't fly away, but will probably wander off round the back of a boulder. In springtime, the male bird's soaring display flight is accompanied by a soundtrack of belches and cackles. The 'P' at the beginning of its name is purely ornamental – in Gaelic it's 'tarmachan'. Heather and grouse At the 2,000ft (610m) mark, bilberry and some grass grow, along with dwarf heather. Once you reach slightly more sheltered ground, the heather springs up twice as high. At around 1,500ft (457m), it is deep enough to hinder off-path walking. Wild flowers like yellow tormentil and white woodruff grow, and you may see meadow pipits and mountain hare. A small brown bird – or more likely three or four – leaps up out of the heather with a squawking cry that seems to say 'go back, go back!' Grouse go with heather, like pandas go with bamboo and koalas with gum trees. Red grouse are found only in the British Isles, and unfortunately their heather country, however familiar and tiresome to Scottish walkers, is rare and vanishing in a world context. The grouse need old leggy heather to nest in, but shorter, younger plants to eat. As a result, grouse moors are burnt in a ten-year cycle to provide tall heather with short heather. The piebald effect of 'muirburn', as it's called, gives these hills an attractive texture. Eighty per cent of the grouse's diet is heather, the rest being the insects that live in it. As birds lack teeth they require small stones in their gizzards to help grind their food up and aid digestion. For grouse, sharp quartz grit is ideal, and you may spot small piles of this beside the track.

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Visitors to Aberdeenshire with any kind of interest in history are in for a treat. There are more castles to the acre in Aberdeenshire than anywhere else in Britain.

Route details

Difficulty:

Hard

Gradient:

Challenging

Distance:

6.75 miles (10.9kms)

Ascent:

2000ft (610m)

If you like this walk, you can try more routes in the area.

Find more walks in Aberdeenshire

Moorland on Morrone

Recommended by

Our view

"The hill at the back of Braemar gives a taste of the Cairngorms."

Walk details

Difficulty:

Hard

Gradient:

Challenging

Distance:

6.75 miles (10.9kms)

Ascent:

2000ft (610m)

Walk directions

1 of 5

2 of 5

The summit, if you turn your back on the buildings, has fine views across Deeside to the high Cairngorms. On the main tops, Ben Macdui and Beinn a'Bhuird, snow may show right through the summer. To the east you will see Loch Callater and the White Mounth plateau. A notable hump is Cac Carn Beag, one of the summits of Lochnagar. Morrone's summit area is bare stones, but if you go past the buildings you'll find the start of a wide track. It runs down to a shallow col, then bends left on its way to the cairn on the low summit beyond. Here it heads on down towards a lower col, but before reaching it, turns left again down the side of the hill. A gentle zig-zagging descent leads to the road by the Clunie Water.

3 of 5

Turn left, alongside the river, for 1.5 miles (2.4km). Ben Avon with its row of summit tors fills the skyline ahead. After a snow gate and golf clubhouse comes a road sign warning of a cattle grid (the grid itself is round the next bend). Here a track, back up to the left, has a blue-topped waymarker pole.

4 of 5

Go up between caravans to a gate in a deer fence. A faint path leads up under birches, bearing right away from the stream. After a gate in a fence the path becomes quite clear, leading to a Scottish Natural Heritage signboard and blue waymarker at the top of the birchwood. The path becomes a track with a fence on its right and, in 220yds (201m), reaches the viewpoint indicator, Point 2. From here you can return to the duck pond and the start of the walk.

5 of 5

Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Well-made but fairly steep path, track, 1 stile

Landscape - Rolling heather hills

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead in reserve, also on hill during grouse nesting May/June

Parking - Duck pond, at top of Chapel Brae, Braemar

Toilets en route - Balnellan Road car park, Braemar centre

Walks in Aberdeenshire Dog-friendly walks in Aberdeenshire

About the walk

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Aberdeenshire

Visitors to Aberdeenshire with any kind of interest in history are in for a treat. There are more castles to the acre in Aberdeenshire than anywhere else in Britain.

Moorland on Morrone

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Sign up to our travel newsletter

Get the latest insider tips and recommendations to make the most of your next trip

Moorland on Morrone

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

Sign up to our newsletter

Join over 4,000+ travelers who are getting the most out of their trips