An easy route of about 500 metres, taking roughly 15 minutes to walk, offers views towards the Grampian Mountains along The Avenue. Auchterarder’s wider network includes more than 50 miles, or 80 kilometres, of routes for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. This means a short, time-defined walk sits alongside a broad choice of paths.
Paths and Views
The named paths each have different points of reference. Common Loan offers views towards Craigrossie; the Oak Walk looks across the Strathearn Valley towards the Grampian Mountains. Black Road, by contrast, is a north–south link through Auchterarder, just off Abbey Road. These details help distinguish the routes by their stated direction or views, without suggesting they form a single route.
Traces of Local History
Auchterarder was granted the title of a Royal Burgh as early as around 1200. The Old Church Tower was built in 1660 using stones from Kincardine Castle. During the Victorian era, a local weaving industry developed; by 1892, Hally’s mill had 540 mechanical looms. These milestones span the town’s early history, a surviving building and industrial development in the 19th century.
St Mackessog’s Church is a surviving fragment of a late medieval church that once served as Auchterarder’s parish church. The existing building probably dates from the 15th or 16th century. Its crow-stepped gables survive, and fragmentary walls remain up to a height of 2.6 metres. The church is of national significance and can contribute to understanding the development of medieval churches and settlements. It may overlie the site of an earlier building from the late 12th or early 13th century.
Barony Parish Church, a neo-Gothic church dating from 1904, stands on Auchterarder High Street. Its features include early pointed forms, red rock-faced masonry, gablets, a tower and a low pyramidal slate cap. The Auchterarder and District Local History Association also offers a way to engage with local history: most of its talks take place between autumn and spring at Aytoun Hall on the High Street.
North of Auchterarder stands the building known as Auchterarder Castle, separate from Castlemains Farmhouse. It is on the site of the demolished castle and incorporates parts of medieval Auchterarder Castle. The name thus refers both to the building and to the older castle site it occupies.
Activities at Gleneagles
The Gleneagles Sporting Club has an indoor climbing and bouldering wall that is seven metres high and 27 metres wide. It offers 40 routes, as well as a timed climbing section. Gleneagles also has a nine-hole, par-3 course.
During the hands-on falconry experiences, participants learn to handle and fly Harris hawks. Off-road driving experiences follow challenging Highland trails and include river crossings and steep inclines. The Equestrian School offers indoor and outdoor training, riding lessons and guided rides. These specific activities vary in focus, from the climbing wall to falconry, off-road driving and horse riding.
Another option is Auchterarder Public Park, with a high-quality playground surrounded by wildflower meadows and natural mounds. Together with the paths, buildings and activities at Gleneagles, it offers a choice of different ways to spend time in Auchterarder.
Discover more destinations: Acharn, Kinloch Rannoch, Coupar Angus, Kenmore, Glenalmond, Kinross, Blairgowrie and Rattray, Morenish
For the main travel overview: Perth And Kinross.
