Kincar - Aboyne

Our 3rd walk of 2025 was designed to allow a few beers at the Boat Inn, Aboyne - somewhere we hadn't been for a while. I had suggested we should try the new(ish) trails that started at the Horse Welfare Centre/Belwade Farm and perhaps start the walk further east on the Deeside Way at Kincar or even Potarch. Dave trumped that suggestion, proposing that we start with a river walk from Kincar - one he had tested with Ruby.

A slight timing issue was that Dave and Nigel had booked to play pickleball from 3:30 to 4:30 pm but Dave resolved the issue by volunteering to pick Ken and I up after pickleball. Nigel's kit was dropped off at home and I met them at the foot of Corsee and we hared over to Finzean to pick Ken up - then over to Dave's to collect Ruby.

All went well and we managed to start the walk in Kincar a few minutes before the planned 5:15 pm. Dave parked his car - who knew that Kincar had a car park? - and we walked past a number of huge new houses before arriving at the riverside for a lovely grassy but damp underfoot walk:

Dave and Ken decided to don their waterproof trousers at this stage while Nigel and I walked on until we arrived at a fork. Ruby looked back from there for her master:

We took the left path, staying close to the river - too close for us to cycle, although the braver, more skilled, younger Freewheelers would probably do it OK. We spotted a number of what Ken's app told us was Broad-leafed Marsh Orchids:

After a bit, we turned away from the river and climbed a short but fairly steep hill. I took this one from the top, looking back down to the river:

This path led us to a tarmac road running parallel to the nearby North Deeside Road. After a kilometre or two this road met up with the one that leads down to the Horse Welfare Centre and the start of the new(ish) trails, appropriately signed:

As you can see from the map, the trails are on a loop. We opted for the higher, further inland trail - the shortest way to the Boat Inn we thought. On reflection, if/when I do these trails again, I would try the lower trail - nearer the river.

These trails are dry and have been properly prepared, with occasional slightly raised wooden sections - all easily cyclable:

We got to the Boat Inn about 7:10 pm - the walk had taken exactly 2 hours. We were ahead of schedule leaving us a dangerous amount of drinking time before heading for the 9:45 pm bus back to Banchory. We had a meal which helped restrain the number of pints we consumed to a fairly moderate level.

Here's the route and the stats: