Loch Etchachan by Glen Derry from the Linn of Dee

The walk starts from the National Trust for Scotland's pay car park at the Linn of Dee and goes out and back. A forest path leads to the Glen Lui track, which runs up the glen to Derry Lodge, where a footbridge crosses the Derry Burn. The path then follows the east side of the burn up Glen Derry through old pinewood and out onto open ground, crossing two burns by fords and others on footbridges. About 12.8 km from the car park it passes the Hutchison Memorial Hut, a shelter that the Mountain Bothies Association looks after, and fords the burn from Coire Etchachan beside it. The path climbs through the corrie to the loch, which lies at 926 m, fords the outflow and ends on the shore 14.4 km from the car park. Return the same way.

It is 28.7 km (17.8 miles) with 598 m (1,960 ft) of ascent; allow about 8¾ hours. The grade is Strenuous: the distance is the main thing, and the second half is high, open ground.

Four burns are crossed by fords on the way in, and they can be hard or impossible to cross after heavy rain or snowmelt: if they are high, turning back is better than wading. At 926 m the weather at the loch can be very different from the car park, and snow lies late. The Heading for the Scottish Hills table lists no stalking issues on the National Trust for Scotland ground south of Stob Coire Etchachan, including the Glen Derry approach, or on the RSPB Scotland ground to the north of it.

The Linn of Dee car park is a pay car park (OpenStreetMap lists a fee).

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.