Ranger Service

The Balmoral Ranger Service was one of the first Ranger Services to be established in Scotland. They have a base in the Estates Office and also a Visitor Centre near Loch Muick.

The car park at Loch Muick is open but can be exceptionally busy. However please note that the toilet facilities are not available.

As the number of visitors to the area has grown additional staff have been employed. The Ranger Service now consists of two full time Rangers, and two Seasonal Rangers. The Ranger Service is grant aided by The Cairngorms National Park Authority.

A Ranger’s work is very varied - there is no typical daily routine. One of the Ranger Services’ main roles is to provide advice and information to members of the public and user groups wishing to use the estate. Rangers regularly patrol the estate on foot and a great deal of advice is given to the public face to face. However, nowadays the public are able to access information about the estate via this web-site and much time is spent responding to e-mails.

A large proportion of the Rangers time is spent on routine maintenance such as maintaining footpaths, fences and bridges and unfortunately too much time is spent picking up litter.

The Ranger Service monitors key wildlife species present on the estate including birds, bats and insects. These key wildlife species are an important indicator of the general health of the environment and habitats. Most of the work is undertaken during the spring and early summer and the results analysed during the winter. The results of the surveys help inform the management of the estate.

The Ranger Service provides guided walks, talks and land rover safaris to the general public and responds to requests for talks and information from educational groups. The Ranger Services educational activities are designed to give visiting groups an opportunity to enjoy, explore and appreciate the landscape and wildlife found on a traditionally managed, privately owned Highland Estate.

The visitor centre at The Spittal of Glen Muick is opened and maintained by the Balmoral Ranger Service throughout the year. Approximately 50,000 people per year make use of the visitor centre. A Ranger tries to be available in the early morning and late afternoon each day. Up to date weather forecasts are displayed in the visitor centre every day and avalanche forecasts are displayed during the winter months.

A monthly wildlife board details some of the wildlife that can be observed. Wildlife leaflets and leaflets describing walks in the local area can all be obtained from the visitor centre

The Ranger Service have a base in the Estates Office at Balmoral and another at the Visitors Centre at Loch Muick.

If you have any queries for the Ranger Service please do not hesitate to contact them.

Estates Office: 013397 42534
Visitor Centre: 013397 55059
E-mail: [email protected]