The Tarland Way, Tarland to Aboyne

Through the Aberdeenshire Core Path planning process there was a strong aspiration from the Tarland Community to have a safe off road cycle route between the communities of Tarland and Aboyne.

Through excellent assistance from local landowners and a plethora of funders the route developed over a number of phases linking new sections of path with existing tracks; two new 18 and 12m span pedestrian bridges were installed to cross the Tarland Burn, a shorter 5m span bridge was installed in Aboyne.

If coming from Aboyne the cycle route meets a quiet back road at Coull for the final stretch before arriving at Tarland. However the final phase of work from Coull to complete the walking route was tied in with a ‘Pearls in Peril’ scheme to improve the habitats for fresh water pearl mussel; here a grass corridor was opened up between the burn and newly installed stock fence. The landowners, including The MacRobert Trust, supported by the local community in Tarland, encouraged the route to be developed for access and therefore a short section of path was constructed by COAT from Coull to link in with the grass path route, whilst The MacRobert Trust constructed a bridge further along. The completion of this final 2 mile phase meant that there was now an off road walking route for the entire 6 miles from Tarland to Aboyne.

Path works/construction Date: Phase 1 2011; Phase 2 2011; Phase 3 2012; Phase 4 2015