📌 Scenic road between Blairgowrie, Perth & Kinross & Grantown-on-Spey, Moray
★★★★
The Snow Roads is a 90-mile scenic route (created fairly recently, but using existing roads) through Scotland’s eastern Highlands. En route from Blairgowrie in the south to Grantown-on-Spey in the north, the journey takes in two of the UK’s highest roads (the Cairnwell Pass and the Lecht Pass) and fabulous views of the Cairngorms National Park. In the climate change era, the road might seem optimistically named; indeed, while snow by the roadside is possible from November to April, it’s certainly not guaranteed. However, catch it after a rare winter storm when walls of snow on either side dwarf the size of your car and you might understand the rationale. We think it’s a great driving route at any time of year, and an excellent (slower) alternative to the busy A9 if you’re driving north from the Central Belt. Art installations have been commissioned at various points on the route to liven up the already beautiful panoramas; beyond these, there are dozens of places of interest to stop off, and a list showing those featured on SOBT can be found here (or look at our map page).
🌍 Location
📌 South end is at Blairgowrie
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NO 180452
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.591807,-3.336147
🚗 Approximate midpoint is on the A93 near Easter Balmoral
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NO 290956
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 57.046666,-3.169994
📌 North end is at Grantown-on-Spey
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NJ 031276
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 57.329261,-3.610063
🚌 Buses serve settlements on the route including Ballater, Blairgowrie, Braemar, Grantown-on-Spey & Tomintoul. The mountain passes have no public transport
🚗 Surfaced A-roads, some single track sections
📝 Key info
▶ 143 km / 89 mi | ▲ 620 m
⌚ Almost always open – snow closes the passes several times each winter, occasionally for a few days at a time
🎫 Free
