The Gordon Way is a waymarked

hiking trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area incl ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. It runs for through the Bennachie Forest. The route was one of a series maintained by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respo ...

and

Aberdeenshire Council Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area incl ...

. In 2016, the council withdrew completely from its maintaining the route (a cost of £9,486 per year) due to budgetary constraints.

Route

The trail runs from the Essons car park at the

Bennachie Bennachie ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Beinn na Cìche'') is a range of hills in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.Whiteley, A.W.M. (Ed.) (1976). ''The Book of Bennachie''. The Bailies of Bennachie. . Mostly anecdotes and verse about the mountain and its surrou ...

Centre, near

Inverurie Inverurie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Uraidh'' or ''Inbhir Uaraidh'', 'mouth of the River Ury') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the confluence of the rivers Ury and Don, about north-west of Aberdeen. Geography Inverurie is in the va ...

, through the Bennachie Forest, crossing the Bridge of Alford to Clatt road at the

bealach A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migrati ...

between Bennachie and Suie Hill, to the Suie car park, which is located on the bealach between Suie Hill and Hill of Millmedden, south-east of Rhynie. There are plans to extend the route to Rhynie in future, with a proposed extension from Inverurie to Huntly through Rhynie. The route follows former

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

extraction routes. Image:GordonWayMarker.jpg, Waymark used on the Gordon Way Image:GordonWayMarker_detail.jpg, Detail of the waymark used on the Gordon Way Image:New Gordon Way Marker.JPG, One of the route markers erected in 2010 to mark the Gordon Way

References

Footpaths in Aberdeenshire {{Aberdeenshire-geo-stub