Walk: Sgor Buidhe – mellow & yellow

📌 Ballater, Aberdeenshire
★★★

Several excellent walks vie for attention starting from Ballater, but Sgor Buidhe (Yellow Peak) is probably the quietest of the bunch. If it weren’t for the wooden signs, you might never know the hill existed at all: it’s an unassuming plateau hidden away behind oft-frequented Craigendarroch, the summit not even handed the dignity of a name on OS maps. Once you get there, the views of more distant hills including moody Lochnagar, Mount Keen and Morven surpass those of its popular rival, even if the immediate surroundings aren’t so dramatic. Perfect for escaping the crowds.

🌍 Location

📌 Start / finish at Ballater visitor centre, Braemar Road (A93), Ballater village centre

🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NO 370959

🛰️ GPS coordinates: 57.050031,-3.040411

🚌 Bus to Ballater

🚗 Car park

📝 Key info

▶ 11 km / 7 mi | ▲ 410 m | ⌛ 3-4 hr

Features: 🏠 Ballater ★★★; △ Sgor Buidhe / Creagan Riabhach (547 m)

⬤ Moderate | Mostly hill tracks with a couple of shortish boggy sections, especially on the wooded section of the descent. Decent paths in the valley.

➡️ Anticlockwise circuit: start & Ballater – path behind old railway station to Monaltrie House – track at 🧭 NO 376972 – Creagan Riabhach 533 m top – Sgor Buidhe – Abergairn – Craggan – B972 at 🧭 NO 358969 – valley footpath near St Mungo’s Well – Ballater west riverside car park – start. Map shows all of our routes starting from Ballater – this one is shown in orange

Download file for GPS

🥾 On our last visit

Wildlife: Loads of rabbits dashing through the fields near Craggan.

Weather: Mainly cloudy and quite hazy, with some sunshine breaking through. Quite warm with little wind. Some fresh (and older) snow on higher hills.

May 2013