Aviemore’s biggest
The Green
Park or garden
0.0 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Aviemore
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Aviemore Railway Station with Island Platform, Footbridge and Fencing · Photo: Tom Parnell · CC BY-SA 4.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Aviemore · parks, paths & countryside
Aviemore is inside the Cairngorms National Park
58 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 4.1 for every square kilometre. 84% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Aviemore has no Outdoors Grade: Scottish towns aren’t graded on the outdoors yet.
Green space
2.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical town in England and Wales 2.1
Near a park
84%
of residents within 400 m
Typical town in England and Wales 83%
Footpaths
58 km
4.1 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical town in England and Wales 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
98%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Cairngorms National Park
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Aviemore?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Inside the Cairngorms National ParkAviemore sits inside it: 4,528 km² of protected landscape.On a long-distance trailThe Speyside Way passes through.
Aviemore’s strongest suit is a protected landscape all round, followed by the Speyside Way.
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Aviemore’s locality.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Scottish Government, NatureScot
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Aviemore
The biggest is The Green, 0.0 ha (0 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
8 in 10 Aviemore residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (NRS Census 2022 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (84%)Further (16%)
Aviemore84%
Highland towns82%
Towns in England and Wales83%
About 500 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 14 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 203 residents.
National Parks & National Scenic Areas
National Parks and National Scenic Areas around Aviemore
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the locality; circle size shows each one’s area. National Scenic Areas are Scotland’s finest landscapes, chosen by NatureScot.
National ParkNational Scenic AreaThe 5 km the grade counts
National Park
Cairngorms National Park
Aviemore is inside it4,528 km²since 200398% of the land within 5 km
Official siteNational Scenic Area
The Cairngorm Mountains
At the edge south-east655 km²since 198043% of the land within 5 km
National Scenic Area
Deeside and Lochnagar
14 mi south-east398 km²since 1980
98% of the land within 5 km of Aviemore is National Park or National Scenic Area. Cairngorms National Park covers 4,528 km² and has been a National Park since 2003.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Aviemore is on the Speyside Way
58 km of footpaths, tracks and core paths are mapped in Aviemore and the kilometre around it, 4.1 km for every square kilometre (the typical town in England and Wales has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalRegionalLocal
Speyside Way8.8 km
Aviemore Orbital6.8 km
East Highland Way4.2 km
The Burma Road1.2 km
The Speyside Way, a national route, passes Aviemore. Close to home, the Aviemore Orbital has 7 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. The regional route here is the East Highland Way.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Scotland has no rights-of-way register: everyone has a right of responsible access to most land, so tracks and councils’ core paths count. Paths are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Aviemore: June to August
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 7.3 | 9.4 | 11.6 | 14.2 | 16.5 | 17.9 | 17.3 | 15.2 | 12.7 | 10.2 | 7.9 | 6.7 |
| High (°C) | 5 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 4 |
| Rain (mm) | 121 | 104 | 89 | 75 | 77 | 81 | 79 | 95 | 89 | 123 | 112 | 133 |
April is the driest month (75 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 17 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 133 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 94 nights a year. The climate in Aviemore →
Things to do
14 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 2
Craigellachie493 m (1,617 ft) · 0.6 mi from town
DirectionsCreag na h-Iolaire534 m (1,752 ft) · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 1
Craigellachie National Nature Reserve262 ha · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Plus 1 dog park without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Oakwood Caravan & Camping Park0.4 mi from town
DirectionsQuestions about the outdoors in Aviemore
What is the biggest park in Aviemore?
The Green, 0.0 ha (0 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
What are the best walks near Aviemore?
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Speyside Way, Aviemore Orbital and East Highland Way.
How many people in Aviemore live near a park?
84% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (NRS Census 2022 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical town in England and Wales is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Aviemore?
June to August: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Scenic Area within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Aviemore’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Aviemore’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Scenic Areas: Scottish Government and NatureScot boundaries (Loch Lomond and The Trossachs, Cairngorms; the 40 National Scenic Areas), clipped to land, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, tracks, core paths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik’s Scotland extract, October 2026.
- Historic gardens, listed buildings and monuments: Historic Environment Scotland designations, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: NRS Scotland’s Census 2022 output areas.
- Grade: Scottish towns have no Outdoors Grade yet.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.