Bennachie longer hill run

A very popular route with the locals for a walk, cycle or even a run. This particular route does keep you on quieter paths until you approach Mither Tap, the final summit. A short to medium length route which is tougher than you think due to all the elevation gain. Good paths for nearly all of the route.

From the car park take the well signposted path for the Gordon Way which is located on the left of the information centre (as you look at it). Initially this is a wide, well made dirt track but does reduce in width a little after you pass the main Mither Tap walking path. The Gordon Way path is well signposted and keep on it.

The path winds through the trees and before the mark you are out into the open. After about the path starts to climb and gets narrow in parts. This part of the route contains some staircases to climb which can get very slippy in certain conditions. Once the climb is over the path widens and starts to bend round the hill. At certain times on the day, during certain times of the year this part is really nice. However, other times of the year it seems like all the flies in Scotland come here for their holidays.

There is a very small trail heading off to the right after about . This is close to an earlier signposted trail. This is only a short section and soon takes you out onto a larger path between Watch Craig and Oxen Craig. The route shown here avoids Watch Craig, but it is only a small detour to add this in as well.

Now you are heading to Mither Tap in the distance with Oxen Craig on the way there. Although the path seems to stretch out forever this is a really splendid part of the run. The climbs onto the top of Oxen Craig and Mither Tap are a bit of a scramble, but worth it for the views unless you are a very regular user of the route.

Be warned though, the first or more of the main path down from Mither Tap is a really difficult run. Take real care here and consider walking to stay safe. Once the path approaches the tree line it becomes very runner friendly and you can really let go. Keep and eye out for those tree roots that catch us all out from time to time.

The path from the top of Mither Tap joins onto the path from the car park. From that point you have just over back to your car. Not sure if this route deserves a 3 or 4 star rating, so we will give it a 4 as we will be back again.