Only a few minutes walk from the village of Aviemore, on the slopes above the main Perth to Inverness road, sits the imposing birch wood of Craigellachie. It’s a peaceful place where you can enjoy a walk at any time of the year.

What’s in a name?

Gaels were in the habit of giving functional place names to features in the landscape: hills and woods, rivers and fords, lochs, farms and cattle grazings, among many more. They were descriptive of myths and events, often going into great, poetic detail.

Craigellachie is likely to have originated from the pronunciation used by the native Gaelic speakers of Badenoch and Strathspey: Creag Eileachaidh – the crag of the rocky place. And what a fine name it is. The crag, though not particularly high, emerges from the birchwoods like a beacon. In the summer, sunlight is reflected by its mirror-like rock. A pair of peregrine falcons nest high on the crag most years and with patience you may see them or hear their alarming calls. There's a much bigger bird here too – the common buzzard. With luck you will see them gliding high over the woods. They nest in dense woodland and their high-pitched mewing calls are very much a part of the lowland landscape here.

The Reserve rises to over 500 metres above sea level as the summit path winds its way through the woods to the heather-mantled shoulders of the Monadh Liath – the grey hills, owing to the colour of their rock. From here, you can see across the River Spey and the Scot’s pine forests of Rothiemurchus and Glen More to the Cairngorm plateau – the Monadh Ruadh or red hills, named after their red granite. At over 900m above sea level, this is the highest, most extensive wildland in Britain and makes up part of the Cairngorms National Park. As recently as two hundred years ago, Gaelic place names described how the uplands here were used for cattle grazing.

Lady of the wood

Birch was one of the first trees to appear following the melting of the glaciers which covered the Strathspey landscape around 11,000 years ago.

Like many Highland birchwoods, Craigellachie’s trees have a liking for poor, well-drained, soils. They are not as long-lived as their neighbouring Scots pines, where trees often exceed 250 years of age. The oldest birches here are probably around 100 years of age. But because it's the largest of its kind in Speyside, Craigellachie has probably been continuously wooded for over 140 years.

When you look at the trees, notice how many of them are the same size. That's because birch, still seen by many as the tree equivalent of a garden weed, is a prolific invader. Where the ground is suitable, seeds germinate in a sudden flush of simultaneous growth. This allows some young trees to escape the determined and heavy browsing by red and roe deer.

Well known for its delicate branches and cascading tresses of light green leaves, ‘the Lady of the Woods’ creates the dappled effect so characteristic of wild birch. There are other specials here too: aspen, rowan, hazel, bird cherry, willows, juniper and the scented shrub, bog myrtle.

Stand fast Craigellachie

The rock of Craigellachie features in the history of the Clan Grant. Their ancestral lands stretched from Aviemore to the Speyside village of Craigellachie in Morayshire, about thirty miles to the north east of the Reserve.

‘Standfast Craigellachie’ is the clan’s motto and war cry. An unsettling one at that if ever it was roared from the top of the crag itself!

Through time, Craigellachie has stood fast to a history of natural events which would have completely eroded a lesser rock. Its story has been one of resistance to the effects of rain, wind and ice. Even extreme volcanic heat has had no more than a modest effect on its rugged features.

Lochans, Lilies and Lichens

There are three waterbodies on the reserve. The enigmatic Loch Pulladern, which floods periodically and an old reservoir where you can still see a concrete sluice and water gauge. In summer, a rich community of bottle sedges, horse-tails and water lilies entangle like fishing lines in its shallow waters. In the evenings, brown trout ‘pop’ at the surface as they rise for flies. Nudging into the southern boundary of the reserve are the dark waters of Lochan Dubh, it’s name derived from the almost black, peaty soils of the summit plateau.

One of the main attractions of the Reserve is its variety of flowering plants, mosses and lichens. A range of conditions from dead wood to water-saturated seepages, dry heath and grassland support over 350 different kinds. Look out for the delicate dog violet and the white, spring-flowering wood anenome; both shade lovers. Along the path sides you may find the yellow-petalled tormentil. According to country lore, an infusion of the leaves in hot water cures stomach ache: the ‘torment-ill’.

Watery dancers

Between May and August a beautiful ballet is enacted over the lochans where harmless dragonflies and their smaller damselfly cousins hawk for insects. The Highland darter and the large golden-ringed dragonfly are some of the commoner players among the airborne dancers. Frogs, sedate toads and palmate newts are common in wet places while common lizards play out a dashing life among dry rocks and sunny banks.

Butterflies, beetles and moths

The sunny glades within the woods support a variety of butterflies, moths, beetles and flies which are key to the survival of the Reserve. They are in the engine room, specially adapted to an uncelebrated life spent among a huge range of micro habitats: rot holes, dead branches and fallen logs, dry and wet patches, streams and stones. Here, legions of animals and plants, particularly fungi, are in the business of recycling new life from the dead and decaying. Many are little more than a bunch of rotters!

Craigellachie is renowned for its moths. The spectacular Kentish Glory, named after the county of its first discovery, is seldom seen these days but Rannoch Sprawlers appear annually among many others.

Walking in Craigellachie

A network of paths latice the Reserve. A low-level, all abilities trail leads through the birch woodland surrounding Loch Puladdern. A less accessible 3km circular route climbs through the birch woodland giving stunning views of the surrounding countryside.

Access to Craigellachie is via paths from the Aviemore Highland Resort and the Youth Hostel. Both routes lead through an underpass beneath the A9 to the Reserve entrance. The nearest train station and bus stop are about fifteen minutes away. There is a Tourist Information Centre in the village.

The reserve is free and open all year. We hope you have a good time. If you would like more information about the Reserve or have any comments to offer please let us know.

For more information, please contact us at: Scottish Natural
Heritage, Achantoul, Aviemore, PH22 1QD Tel: 01479
810477; Fax 01479 811 363; website www.snh.org.uk

Getting to Craigellachie

Access to Craigellachie is from the Aviemore Highland Resort where there is limited car parking. The nearest train station and bus stop are about fifteen minutes away. The reserve is free, open all year and access is via an underpass below the A9 road. There is a waymarked path leading from the Aviemore Youth Hostel.