History
The Cateran Trail was the idea of Allan Dick, a local businessman and vice-chairman of the Glenshee Tourist Association, who pieced together existing rights of way, tracks and paths into a circuit through the Perthshire and Angus glens. In late 1997 the Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust was approached, and it invested £50,000 in building bridges and stiles and putting up waymarkers.
The trail was officially opened in September by John Swinney, who cut the ribbon with a claymore. It is named after the Caterans, cattle thieves who raided Strathardle, Glenshee and Glen Isla from the Middle Ages to the 17th century, and some of its paths follow routes they used.
The route was established and waymarked by the Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust, a charity founded in 1997, which still maintains it.
Sources: WalkScotland: The Cateran Trail (Colin Hogarth); Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust: Cateran Trail; Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust: About us; Wikipedia: Cateran Trail; Scotland's Great Trails: Cateran Trail
Facts
- Code
- UK 017 (provisional)
- Distance
- 64.0 miles (103 km). We measure 65.8 miles
- Sections
- 5
- Type
- Circular
- Opened
- September 1999
- Designation
- One of Scotland's Great Trails
- Looked after by
- NatureScot (Scotland's Great Trails) / Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust
- Nations
- Scotland
- Total ascent
- Still to be measured