Dalwhinnie

Dalwhinnie

Dalwhinnie is a small village of around 80 people, situated at the southern end of Badenoch, at an altitude of 351m, near the foot of Ben Alder. Its wide, open wilderness provides a great outddor environment that residents value highly and also encourages many visitors to return to the area year after year. Dalwhinnie is recognised as one of the coldest villages in the UK, having an average annual temperature of 6.5°C, which makes it ideally suited to winter walking and mountaineering. This special natural environment also allows for a wide variety of other recreational activities such as mountain biking, fishing and white water kayaking which serve to attract the many tourists that pass through the village in the summer months.

Distinguished as having the highest working distillery in Scotland, Dalwhinnie is steeped in a rich history created over many generations. The population of this settlement is small, yet actively committed to community life, maintaining a strong sense of independence partly owing to their ‘bracing’ geographic location.

Dalwhinnie enjoys close links with the Ben Alder Estate which provides a mainstay of employment for the area and the estate’s sustainable approach to managing the surrounding landscape is highly regarded by the local population.

New initiatives are continually being taken forward by committed community members, such as the refurbishment and activities at the village hall, better facilities and information for visitors to encourage them to stay longer in the village and ongoing care for the environment, both in and surrounding the community. These are just some of the ways in which the residents themselves feel they can help to support the fragile tourist trade and consequently the ongoing future wellbeing of the village.