COAST TO COAST - NORTH ROUTE
Your riding ability
On our long distance rides we will be travelling many miles a day in the saddle, riding up and down hills and over rough terrain so you must be capable of riding in a balanced manner for your horses sake! Our horses health and happiness is always a priority to us and because of the long days in the saddle, we require all riders to be competent in riding with a light seat (i.e posting the trot and light seat in canter) to minimise stress on the horses back. We will be crossing rivers, galloping along beaches and may need to jump small natural obstacles, like ditches or fallen trees - nothing too big, but you need to be a capable rider and able to control a horse at speed. It is also important that you are practised in leading a horse over difficult terrain as there may be times when this is necessary. We require all our riders to be at a walk/trot/canter level.
Get to know a little about the trails and our minimum age/experience requirments
Before You Book Your Holiday
Your riding ability
On our long distance rides we will be travelling many miles a day in the saddle, riding up and down hills and over rough terrain so you must be capable of riding in a balanced manner for your horses sake! Our horses health and happiness is always a priority to us and because of the long days in the saddle, we require all riders to be competent in riding with a light seat (i.e posting the trot and light seat in canter) to minimise stress on the horses back. We will be crossing rivers, galloping along beaches and may need to jump small natural obstacles, like ditches or fallen trees - nothing too big, but you need to be a capable rider and able to control a horse at speed. It is also important that you are practised in leading a horse over difficult terrain as there may be times when this is necessary. We require all our riders to be at a walk/trot/canter level.
Get to know a little about the trails and our minimum age/experience requirments
Before You Book Your Holiday
7 days riding, 6 nights accommodation
COAST TO COAST - NORTH ROUTE
7 days riding, 6 nights accommodation
COAST TO COAST - NORTH ROUTE
7 days riding, 6 nights accommodation
MONARCH OF THE GLEN
6 days riding, 5 nights accomodation
Riding Difficulty: Intermediate
Approximate Distance Covered: 110 miles
The listed price includes accomodation, meals (B, L, D).
Please note, this route requires that all riders must be able to ride at walk, trot and canter. Terrain can sometimes be boggy or steep and guests may have to lead their own horse periodically. Riders are encourage to help out with the morning routine of catching, feeding, grooming and saddling the horses for the day.
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Day One
Glen Nevis to Kinlochleven: 18 miles
We collect all riders from the bus/train station in Fort William. We will then take you to meet the horses where we have a ride briefing at the foot of Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain. We start by climbing through the forest to a viewpoint high above Fort William with stunning views all around! We then descend through the hills to our accomodation where we will spend the evening having a blether to get to know each other.
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Day Two
Kinlochleven to Loch Ossian: 15 miles
We make a steep climb out of Kinlochleven on a good estate track. We ride on to cross, then follow the Abhainn Rath river as it tumbles it’s way to a lonely lodge at the head of Loch Treig. We then join the made track to beautiful Loch Ossian, where we spend the night in the remote hostel overlooking the loch.
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Day Three
Loch Ossian to Newtonmore: 20 miles
We ride today on good trails through wild and beautiful Corrour Estate. Riding on through this wild landscape, past lochs and through glens, we reach Ardverikie Estate, famous as the setting for the TV series, Monarch of the Glen. We ride high through the hills, before dropping to the loch side where we can see the famously beautiful lodge, then ride on through the forest to the end of Loch Laggan and the largest inshore beach in the UK! We leave the horses for the night and head to our accommodation just outside Newtonmore.
Day Four
Newtonmore to Dalwhinnie: 21 miles
Today we ride on through the high hills of Ben Alder forest, famous as the hiding place of Bonnie Prince Charlie, in Cuny’s Cage, before dropping to Loch Erricht to follow the lochside until we reach
Dalwhinnie, where we spend the night. The name Dalwhinnie is derived from Gaelic word ‘Dail-coinneeamh’, which means meeting place, referring to the fact that many of the ancient cattle drovers'
routes through the mountains met at this place.
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Day Five
Dalwhinnie to Kingussie: 20 miles
Sees us heading West again, first following a tiny single track road to link us to an estate road and stalkers path winding high through the majestic hills of the Reay forest estate. Our descent beside Arkle gives us our first glimpse of the West coast in the distance. We will leave our ponies at the end of the trail and head to our lochside hotel for the night.
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Day Six
Kingussie to Aviemore: 17 miles
The final day! Most of our riding is through forests today, firstly through more modern forestry plantations, then through the ancient Caledonian pine forest at the foot of the Cairngorms passing Loch an Eilein with it’s pretty, ruined island castle to finish just outside the
village of Aviemore.
Price: 1840 GBP
Price based on sharing a twin or double room - single rooms may be available (but cannot be guaranteed) at an extra cost of 210 GBP however if you are travelling alone and willing to share a room, we often have other riders doing the same who are happy to keep costs down by sharing with another lone traveller of the same sex and wherever possible we try to match sharers by age etc too. Payment can be made by cheque, bank transfer or credit/debit card via PayPal below. Please contact us if you require our bank details for transfer.
Please email or phone us to check availability on the ride before paying deposits.