Ryvoan Bothy Loop, but not quite as planned | Gravel Bike Ride

Ryvoan Bothy Loop, but not quite as planned | Gravel Bike Ride from Aviemore, Scotland

The Ryvoan Loop is a classic circular ride from Aviemore, great for mountain bikes and gravel bikes.

The first part of this great gravel ride goes from Aviemore to Boat of Garten along the Speyside Way and the River Spey. From there, the ride continues through a stretch of serene Caledonian pine forest towards Loch Garten. This peaceful loch is part of the RSPB’s Loch Garten Nature Reserve, a haven for wildlife and home to ospreys during the breeding season. If you’re lucky and visiting at the right time of year, you might catch a glimpse of these magnificent birds nesting high in the treetops — a truly special sight in the Cairngorms.

Then it's onto Abernethy Forest, one of the largest remaining fragments of the ancient Caledonian pine forest that once covered much of Scotland. The track emerges from this beautiful forest to panoramic views of the Cairngorms across open heather moorland.

It's the start of the descent, and the gravel track becomes a bit rockier, especially after you passed Ryvoan Bothy at the foot of Meall a’ Bhuachaille. You'll soon reach the enchanting An Lochan Uaine, also known as the Green Loch. Legend has it that it's green because the fairies washed their clothes in it at night.
Please be aware when you continue your descent that the path gets a bit busier with walkers heading up to the Green Loch.

My plan was to turn right about 1 km past the loch, and to add the back of Loch Morlich and around Loch an Eilein to the route. Unfortunately, I took the rough descent a wee bit too fast, and my derailleur decided it had had enough — snapping clean off. Luckily, I managed to freewheel to the western end of Loch Morlich and hitched a lift back to Aviemore (huge thanks to Frank, the Irishman from Dundee!). A link of the planned 51 km route can be found lower down.

So you could either take my planned extended route, or carry straight on, past Glenmore Lodge and on to a well deserved break at the cycle-friendly Glenmore Visitor Centre and Café and maybe a paddock visit at the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre next door. From there you could pop over to Loch Morlich at the foot of Cairngorm Mountain to enjoy the big sandy beach, before cruising down the Old Logging Way back to Aviemore.

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🚴‍♂️ Route Details
📍 Distance: 45 km / 28 miles - Due to a snapped off derailleur this link only shows the route up to the western end of Loch Morlich. You can continue from there along the Old Logging Way to get back to Aviemore.
🚴 Strava:   / strava  

📏 Distance: 51 km / 31.5 miles - my planned extended version, including Loch Morlich and Loch an Eilein.
🚴‍♂️ Garmin Connect: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/cou...

Loch Garten Nature Reserve
https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/rese...

Cairngorm Reindeer Centre
https://www.cairngormreindeer.co.uk/

🍰 Café Stop
Glenmore Visitor Centre and Café
https://www.glenmorevisitorcentre.com/

🚴🏼‍♂️ Bike Shops
🔗 Aviemore Bikes - bike hire and shop: https://www.aviemorebikes.co.uk/
🔗 Ride Scotland, Boat of Garten - bike hire and shop: https://ridescotland.com/
🔗 BackcountryScot, Aviemore - bike hire and shop: https://backcountry.scot/
🔗 Bothy Bikes, Kingussie - bike hire and shop: https://www.bothybikes.co.uk/
🔗 In Your Element, Rothiemurchus - bike hire: https://iye.scot/

🛏️ Cycle-friendly accommodation
🔗 Ravenscraig Guest House, Aviemore: https://www.ravenscraighouse.co.uk/
🔗 Silverglades Self Catering Holiday Homes, Aviemore: https://www.silvergladesaviemore.co.uk/
🔗 Go Self Catered Holiday Cottages, Aviemore: https://www.goselfcatered.com/
🔗 Pine Bank Chalets, Aviemore: https://www.pinebankchalets.co.uk/
🔗 Glencoldon Cottage, Boat of Garten: https://glencoldon.co.uk/

🎥 My YouTube Channel: Cycling in the Scottish Highlands
🔗    / pjd66  

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▶️ Bike Rides in the Cairngorms National Park
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⏱️ Timestamps
0:00 — Speyside Way, River Spey, Loch Garten
3:25 — Abernethy Forest, Ryvoan Pass
6:16 — Glenmore Forest and the Green Loch

🎵 Music
'Dirty Mac' by Endless Love
'Forgiven Fate' by Dan Lebowitz
'Checkmate' by Nathan Moore
'Snowy Peaks pt II' by Chris Haugen
'5-O-July' by Dan Lebowitz
'Opheliea's Blues' by Audionautix
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Artist: http://audionautix.com/

#CairngormsNationalPark #RyvoanBothyLoop #RyvoanBothy #Aviemore #Cairngorms #Glenmore #gravelcycling