GPS Cycle and Walking Routescycle iconwalk icon

Loch Vaa

1.55 miles (2.5 km)

Ordnance Survey Map Open Streetmap This walk visits Loch Vaa near Boat of Garten and Aviemore in the Cairngorms.
You can start the walk from the parking area at the south western corner of the loch, just off the A95 and next to the Laggantygown Cemetery. From here you can pick up footpaths heading east along the southern part of the loch. The loch is very photogenic with beautiful clear waters and views of the surrounding hills. It also contains the remains of a crannog, a historic fortified structure constructed on an artificial island in the middle of the loch.

Postcode

PH24 3BT - Please note: Postcode may be approximate for some rural locations

Loch Vaa OS Map Ordnance survey map - Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking

Loch Vaa Open Street Map Open Streetmap - Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking

Further Information and Other Local Ideas

If you head east from the site you could pick up the Speyside Way. Also to the east is the popular Loch Garten where there's an Osprey Centre and more fine waterside trails.
Just west of Aviemore there's the wonderful Craigellachie Nature Reserve. The reserve includes a series of lochans, fascinating plantlife and a wonderful viewpoint towards the nearby Cairn Gorm.
For more walking ideas in the area see the Cairngorms Walks page.

Photos

Boathouse on Loch Vaa - geograph.org.uk - 1497939

Boathouse. The loch has been described by one authority as, 'Mysterious Loch Vaa'. Set amidst forestry and little visited it certainly does have an aura. Although close to the A94 road it cannot be seen from it. Access is however simple by parking in Laggantygown cemetery car park and following a path 100 yards through the trees. From the boathouse one can follow a network of tracks through the forest some 2 miles to Boat of Garten but beware, do take a map & compass, the forest is vast and featureless.

Loch Vaa - geograph.org.uk - 1619

Loch Vaa

Crannog on Loch Vaa - geograph.org.uk - 1490531

Crannog. This beautiful loch is hidden in woodland unseen from the busy A95 road just a few yards away and consequently little visited. View is from the SE shore looking out to a crannog and to the red roofed boat house on the far shore beyond. Crannogs were artificial islands dating from perhaps 1st century AD onward and built to house people and provide some protection from wild animals and predatory man!

Reflections on Loch Vaa - geograph.org.uk - 2250230

Reflections on Loch Vaa

Video

GPS Files

GPX File

Loch Vaa.gpx (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold>Download Linked File)

Memory Map Route

Loch Vaa.mmo (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold >Download Linked File)