The route from Garmouth to Lossiemouth is 10.7 miles in length and has 436 feet of climbing. It has been given a difficulty rating of 4.Garmouth is a small village and is famed as the landing place of King Charles II on his return from exile in 1650. The River Spey is the dominant feature and the estuary is a constantly changing environment, creating a succession of habitats from bare shingle to coastal grasslands, and brackish saltmarsh to wet woodland. If you have time you could cross to the east side of the river via the magnificent Spey Viaduct and visit Spey Bay, which has a museum and offers dolphin watching trips.
You head west out of Garmouth on quiet roads in a classic Moray farmland setting. This is an easy cycle, though the profile makes it look tough due to the low elevation. Truthfully, there isnt much flat on the route, but the only bumps worth mentioning are at mile 1.7 (taking you to the high point of 138 feet after 2.1 miles) and mile 7.3. You join the B9013 at mile 5.5 which is a busier and faster road so please take care. You pass the discussed Milltown airfield at mile 6 and join the Innes Canal at mile 7, before enjoying 2.6 miles through a pretty woodland section. You enter Lossiemouth from the south, finishing in the town centre near the harbour.Although Lossiemouth has been settled for over a thousand years, the current town was established 250 years ago. Formally a fishing village, the economy is dominated by the RAF base. There are two world-class golf courses, which might be the only courses in the world to have landing lights strewn across them you will feel like you can touch the jets as they come in to land. The courses are associated with three former British prime ministers Arthur James Balfour, Herbert Asquith and James Ramsay MacDonald. The Covesea Lighthouse is to the west, and there are some wonderful beaches and cliff walks on the Moray Coast Trail to enjoy. There are a number of caf and restaurant options, and the fish n chips are excellent!
By clicking on the play symbol on the graphic below you can see route map. The elevation profile of the ride can be seen via the Hills tab with files for use with a GPS device also available for download. If you take any photos of the route that youd like to share, please submit to neil@velodays.com
Route map for Garmouth To Lossiemouth by Neil Innes on plotaroute.com
