Buy the OS Route Map and instructions for this route

If ever there was a loop guaranteed to put a smile on your face, it’s this one. And despite its location, at the foot of Britain’s most imposing upland wilderness — it’s not a particularly tough proposition either. It’s all about forests, rivers and lakes really, and there are plenty of all three scattered liberally around the circuit. But it also climbs just high enough to take a peek into one of the Highland’s finest glens: the steep-sided, legendary Lairig Ghru.
The riding is wonderful throughout: easy but undulating in the early stages; wickedly sinuous around Loch Gamhna; and then mouth-wateringly tricky on the drop from the Lairig Ghru back into the forest. It’s also pretty hectic, with few real opportunities to stop and take in the views. But you’d have to be blind not to appreciate just what a spectacular place this is; and there’s no way that you wouldn’t want to take at least a couple of breathers to soak up the quite sublime Cairngorm scenery.