Walk: Linn of Quoich - pleasing as punch

Aberdeenshire | Braemar | Short walk | ★★★

[The Punch Bowl, Linn of Quoich]

A couple of miles west of Braemar, the Quoich Water pours out of the Cairngorms into the Deeside floodplain by way of a series of serenely beautiful rapids. Waterfalls, shallow pools and bubbly flumes make this an exquisite leave-no-trace picnic spot - though on a sunny summmer's day you won't be alone. A curious, water-sculpted pothole well seen from the footbridge was reputedly used by the Earl of Mar as a punch bowl - either to celebrate a successful deer hunt or as a toast to the Jacobites, depending on which story you fancy. The debris-strewn river course a short distance below the falls serves as a testament to the intensity of past flood events; a newly replaced bridge has made this circular walk possible again after several years without.

[Quoich Water from the east bank]

đź“Ś Walk: Linn of Quoich - pleasing as punch ★★★
Start / finish at car park for Linn of Quoich, end of minor road, 2 mi (as the crow flies) west of Braemar, G.R.: NO 118910 ///stowing.finest.version

▶ 2 km / 1 mi | ▲ 50 m | ⌚ Short | ⬤ Easy
Features: Linn of Quoich
Terrain: Clear paths and tracks, though fairly steep ascent to start with.

Route & map

Car park - path to northwest - footbridge over Quoich Water at Linn of Quoich / The Punch Bowl - return by east bank


Route credit: Scotland Off the Beaten Track
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On our visit

Wildlife: Small birds in the forest.
Weather: Mostly sunny, comfortable temperatures.

Also on this walk

đź“Ś Linn of Quoich ★★★
On the Quoich Water, 10-min walk north of nearest road, 2 mi west of Braemar, G.R.: NO 114913 ///dries.exactly.coconuts
Always open | Free

đź’¬ If not doing the whole walk (why not?!), the quickest route to the falls is a 10-min walk (each way) using the end of the route described above, in reverse.

Chronological photo guide

[Ascent from the car park]

[The first section has excellent views over upper Deeside]

[Approach to Linn of Quoich]

[Quoich Water above the rapids]

[Linn of Quoich upper rapids]

[Linn of Quoich upper rapids]

[The Punch Bowl]

[Waterfall at The Punch Bowl]

[View of The Punch Bowl from the footbridge]

[Waterfall underneath the footbridge]

[Quoich Water from the east bank]

[Quoich Water from the east bank]

[Quoich Water below the falls]

[Quoich Water below the falls]

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