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Aberdeenshire

Ballater And Crathie

The Balmoral Cairns loop from Crathie — Cairngorms National Park

Routes

Hiking trails & Routes

Aberdeenshire

Ballater And Crathie

The Balmoral Cairns loop from Crathie — Cairngorms National Park

Moderate

4.7

(116)

712

hikers

The Balmoral Cairns loop from Crathie — Cairngorms National Park

02:53

10.0km

240m

Hiking

Embark on a moderate hike through the Balmoral Cairns loop from Crathie, a 6.2-mile (10.0 km) route that takes approximately 2 hours and 53 minutes to complete, with an elevation gain of 788 feet (240 metres). You will wander through atmospheric forests and across varied woodland terrain, enjoying both stone…

Last updated: April 23, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

Cairngorms National Park

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

Get Directions

2.23 km

Princess Beatrice's Cairn

Highlight • Viewpoint

Princess Beatrice was the fifth daughter and youngest of Queen Victoria’s children. This cairn was commissioned by her mother the queen.

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2.96 km

Prince Albert's Cairn (Balmoral Pyramid)

Highlight • Viewpoint

The Queen’s Scottish residence of Balmoral Castle
is impressive enough by itself, but the wooded
hills around it are dotted with spectacular cairns.
Most were established by Queen Victoria and …

Tip by

5.39 km

Princess Alice's Cairn

Highlight • Viewpoint

This cairn is a bit out of the way from the others, however the walk to it is easy following the trails. Much less busy than the others too. Nearby …

Tip by

6.43 km

Prince Arthur Memorial Cairn

Highlight • Structure

This cairn is slightly hidden off of the main path, however there are two smaller trails that lead through the wood to it and should be easy enough to spot …

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6.73 km

View of Balmoral Castle from Prince Leopold’s Cairn

Highlight • Castle

Best view of Balmoral!

Tip by

6.98 km

Purchase Cairn (Balmoral Estate)

Highlight • Viewpoint

Purchase Cairn commemorates the purchase of the Balmoral Estate by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

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7.19 km

Princess Louise's Cairn

Highlight • Structure

On one of the shorter walking loops (Blue) from the castle, this cairn is quite easily found.
Princess Louise was the sixth child and forth daughter of Queen Victoria.

Tip by

7.76 km

Princess Helena's Cairn

Highlight • Forest

This cairn can be found on the blue hiking trail from the castle. A little path leads from the main route up through the trees to it, and the cairn …

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8.78 km

Statue of John Brown

Highlight • Monument

Bronze life-size statue of John Brown, the servant of Queen Victoria, by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm.

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10.0 km

End point

Parking

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

7.00 km

1.80 km

900 m

332 m

Surfaces

7.57 km

1.44 km

1.01 km

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Weather

Friday 17 July

14°C

7°C

34 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 20.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

August 1, 2024,Wanderung beim Balmoral Schloss — Cairngorms National Park

Beautiful, idyllic tour with a great view. At the beginning it goes uphill for a while with a good gradient. Then through the beautiful nature. Also suitable for beginners.

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October 16, 2021,Balmoral Royal Cairns

Start and finish at Crathie car park (by Balmoral castle). £5 charge for all day parking (2021).

July 3, 2025,Balmoral Cairns

Revisited the Balmoral Cairns walk today with a colleague. An interesting walk with the large pyramid shaped Prince Albert Cairn being a particular highlight. We started around 10am and hardly met anyone else until the end. Stopped at The Highlanders Bakehouse for lunch. This is a 2 minute walk from the Crathie car park. Amazing baked goods and good coffee.

July 2, 2023,Gedenkstättentour rund um Balmoral Castle

After the obligatory visit to the distillery, with a bit of trickery without a ticket, we went around Balmoral Castle past all the memorials of past princes and princesses ...
When we then seriously in the middle of the forest - almost on Balmoral`s back exit -
Queen Camilla stressed out AT THE WHEEL !
a Range Rover with security …

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The Balmoral Cairns loop from Crathie — Cairngorms National Park

Princess Beatrice's Cairn

Prince Albert's Cairn (Balmoral Pyramid)

Princess Alice's Cairn

Prince Arthur Memorial Cairn

View of Balmoral Castle from Prince Leopold’s Cairn

Purchase Cairn (Balmoral Estate)

Princess Louise's Cairn

Princess Helena's Cairn

Statue of John Brown

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