From Dava to Dunphail - distance 6½ miles (10½ km)
Route descriptions
Travelling North
Grantown to Dava | Dava to Dunphail | Dunphail to Forres
Travelling South
Forres to Dunphail | Dunphail to Dava | Dava to Grantown
Finding the start and finish
Forres | Grantown-on-Spey
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195kB Starting at Dava
The Knock of Braemoray
from Dava
Join the railway line at Dava. There is no official parking but there is space for one or two cars on the grass verge opposite the track near the Highland boundary. A few yards up the track a bridge on your left crosses the drainage ditch. Follow this track through the woods and across the hillside to join the line within a few hundred yards. You are likely to encounter geese and then free range hens as you pass through Dava, please keep any dogs on a lead. As you pass through the gate leaving Dava behind you the Knock of Braemoray, 456 metres (1496 feet) lies ahead. There is no worn path to its summit.
The deserted dwelling at Bogeney
is halfway round the 'Knock'
If you wish to climb the Knock to enjoy the view you are welcome to do so and are asked to go up from eastern side, leaving the line about a mile further on. As you curve to the right leaving the road enjoy the wild landscape around you. In poor weather it is easy to imagine why the railway workmen built themselves a shelter from sleepers. The line soon drops into the shelter of a burn hugging the sheltered leeside of the Knock. There are clear views to Caithness on the far side of the Moray Firth. The conical hill is Morven, near Helmsdale 50 miles (80 km) away.
An aerial view of the
Divie viaduct
The deserted cottage at Bogeney marks the halfway point to the Divie viaduct. As you continue on towards Bantrach Wood about 2 miles ahead notice how the landscape is changing from heath-land to farmland and pasture. At the far side of Bantrach Wood (about ¼ mile from the gate) an obvious short track goes off to the right to join the Bantrach road. This can be a convenient pick up point. The embankment now builds rapidly as you approach Divie viaduct. This seven arch viaduct is 477 feet (145 metres) long and stands 170 feet (52 metres) above the River Divie.
River Divie from the
Divie viaduct
Pause here a while and enjoy the wonderful views to either side. In the centre there is a commemorative stone marking the building of the railway line. Built between 1861-1863 this magnificent viaduct cost £10,231 to build. Beyond the viaduct the line enters a cutting. Like many cuttings along the route this is a damp place. Water permanently seeps from the fields above and for many years this cutting was flooded ankle deep or more. It is still a lush wet habitat. In winter it is still muddy in places; in summer the surface underfoot is now mostly dry and firm. We hope to preserve the profusion of orchids and other flora and fauna found here.
Edenkillie Manse and Kirk
from the Divie viaduct
Alternatively we can continue on for about a mile towards the old Dunphail station. The old station and platform is now private property and the path follows a short diversion through the woods alongside the line. You rejoin the line at the old sidings for the station near where the Half Davoch road crosses over the line. To finish your trip here cross the line and follow the path to join the minor road in about 100 yards. We hope to form car parking here. If you turn left at the minor road to join the main Forres road, a short distance to your left is Edinkillie Hall where a car can safely be left for a while.
The Braemoray cutting provides the perfect
habitat for orchids and other
wetland fauna and flora
If you wish to continue on towards Forres, turn right where you rejoin the track and pass under the road bridge ahead. This section through the cutting has been recently drained and surfaced. The wet ground was very difficult to work in and the visual impact was greater than we had hoped. The new Spring growth should soon soften the effects of this work.
