Brackloch Craig

The walk up Brackloch Craig rewards you with views across Aberdeenshire that stretch for miles on a clear day. It's a proper hill rather than a mountain - nothing that'll have you scrambling over rock faces or needing specialist kit, but it demands enough effort to feel like an actual walk rather than a stroll.

From Aboyne, you're looking at getting to the trailhead and then a steady climb through mixed woodland before breaking out onto open moorland. The final push to the summit takes maybe two hours for most people at an easy pace. What makes it worth the effort is how the landscape opens up - you get a genuine sense of the Highlands' scale without needing to tackle anything more serious.

Families with older kids will manage it fine. Younger ones might find the moorland sections a bit long and featureless, and the return journey gets repetitive. It's the kind of walk where you need decent boots and weather awareness - this is Scotland, after all. An afternoon's work, really.

If you're staying at either Aboyne Loch Caravan Park or Firbank Park, both within a few miles, this makes a solid half-day activity. It pairs well with exploring Aboyne village itself or tackling some of the other peaks in the area if you're here for a week. Not dramatic enough to plan a trip around alone, but if you're doing a Highlands break, it's absolutely worth adding to your list.