Colour code of walk: Blue

Name of walk: Bellwood and Belwade

Grade symbol: Moderate

Length of walk: 5.8 miles / 9.3 km

Time to allow: Up to 3 hours 30 minutes

default Walk Bellwood & Belwade gpx(112 KB)

What to see:

Pine and birch forests, rolling countryside scattered with sheep and horses, the ‘Old Deeside Way’ to Aboyne - and a coffee stop at Belwade (check opening hours) - all are included in this beautiful walk to the east of Aboyne.

Terrain description:

Mostly narrow gently undulating paths with earth and stones, but also boardwalks, open forestry and a reasonable amount of tarmac roads.

Path description

From the village centre noticeboard go down through Station Square, taking the Low Road for 1.5 km alongside the Tarland Burn until a wooden bridge on your left, just before the sewage works, leads you into the Bellwood. After 100 m a map board at a cross-paths shows many routes which can be explored, but the Belwade Loop goes right, along the forestry road. After 1 km at a clearing with cross paths (before the bike park), take the left turn and continue on this path, trending first right at a junction, heading uphill and then left and over some boardwalks to a junction. Turn left and after 100 m reach an information board at a junction. Turn right and soon pass through a gap in a stone wall out of the Bellwood, up to a farm road. Turn right and then bear left past a large shed onto a tarmac road. The Belwade Bistro is down on the right but turn left up the road.

Leaving Belwade, continue carefully along the road for just over 1km. 100 m after passing a cottage and farm access road on the left, pass through the gate on your left (opposite an unmade road on the right) and follow the narrow track uphill through several more gates until you reach open fields. Visualise the carts in earlier times as this is the Old Deeside Road into Aboyne.  You soon reach the clear fell area of the Bellwood after the field, a result of Storm Arwen in 2021.  Take the small path on the left and soon pass an information board, continue on the path, trending right towards Aboyne until a large forest road is reached. Follow this straight down the hill to the corner and information board near where you entered the wood earlier in the walk. Turn right and follow the path bearing left out of the wood (at the “Path Exit” sign, initially behind and then between houses, past the hospital and head towards the centre of the village and the end of the walk.