Forres circular walk
A walk of 8 miles taking in some of the best walking just outside Forres and a chance to visit two distilleries.
The official starting point is Grant Park Car Park on Victoria Road and is way marked with purple arrows put in place by the Forres Footpaths Trust. Go along the road bordering Grant Park and take the Rafford (B9010)road to the bottom of the hill turning abruptly left up St Leonards Road at the roundabout near Garrow Brothers Garage. A few hundred yards up 
the hill the path is signed right into St Leonards Drive. As the road turns right the path goes straight ahead onto a narrow track, Watch for the purple arrow on a low post pointing straight ahead and you are on the walk proper. Be careful here as there is another larger signpost with a purple arrow as a left turn and this just goes back to St Leonards Road! The path drops down to the burn flowing into Sanquhar Loch and a very pretty walk follows the burn to the loch. At the end of the loch turn left briefly onto the road and turn left again on the other side of the loch. Now follows a beautiful but somewhat complicated walk through Sanquhar Woods. Look closely for the way marked arrows, they are often on posts and fences and there are other competing way marks. 
After crossing tarmac at Woodend go straight ahead. After a short distance there is a sharp right turn marked by a purple arrow on a low post. Although this is probably the official route it’s complications can best be avoided by going straight on for about half a mile to a T junction at the end of the wood.
Turn right onto a wide earth and gravel track with the wood on your right and fields on your left. Follow this track along the edge of the wood until you reach The Dava Way path along the old railway track. Turn Left on to The Dava Way (you have to descend to the right to access the track) and continue to The Dallas Dhu Distillery. This is a historic distillery museum with daily tours and a shop where you can still buy the last whisky 
produced in 1982. Leave by the entrance gate and follow the signs, mostly on paved roads with no route finding problems for about two and a half miles to The Findhorn River. Turn right and follow the river for a short while to the road bridge over the A96. The signs are a bit vague here. Do not go under the bridge but walk up to the road, cross the bridge and the road and turn right to follow the left bank of The Findhorn River for about a mile. At Broom of Moy cross the river bridge. Turn left and follow the signs to Forres passing The Ben Romach distillery after approximately one mile. Ben Romach distillery also has tours and some very interesting whiskies. The staff are very knowledgeable and will happily offer tasting samples.
After this interesting interlude cross the railway track and the A96 into Forres and at The High Street turn left and return to the starting point. Residents or guests at Clunyhill College do not need to start at Grant Park but can simply walk down St Leonards Road and turn left into St Leonards Drive to pick up the route.
Allow 4 to 5 hours and take ordnance survey map 27 or Explorer 423. You can also download a basic map from www.morayways.org website but this map and the detailed route instructions do not quite agree.
