This route, in the north of the city, follows the Don away from town then cuts cross country on rolling single track.
From St Machar Cathedral head down to the river then northwestwards, upstream, on the Don River path. The route follows the riverside path all the way to Park Hill Bridge. Find your way on the river path, around the edges of housing estates, and new developments to Persley Bridge. From here there is a stretch of road riding on the Muggie Moss Road, around a construction site, up to the A947. Regain the river here by turning right immediately after some hoardings and wire fencing. (Hopefully, the new development will include a continuous riverside path).
The despite the obvious recent development, place names in this area have survived for hundreds of years. The Military Survey of 1755 names "Muggy Moss", Buck Burn, Bankhead and Parsley. Even Hadagain on the road to Huntly (what would become the A96) is shown. What was strip-farmed land and watermills in 1750 became industrialised paper mills and railway yards in 1901. The Muggiemoss Works appears on the Ordnance Survey until 2007, is absent in 2016 after it closed in 2005, and then houses and the new construction site are shown in 2019.
Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.
Continue past the paper mills on woodland tracks, cut through Beech Manor and Polo Park roads to rejoin the Don Riverside Path proper.
On the steep banks to your left there are some short trails which provide some good cornering practice. Some are steep, so walk up them first and only ride if they are within your capability. The key tips for cornering are to brake before the corner so that you can let your bike flow through the turn; look up and around the corner and your body and bike will follow; load up your tyres for grip by putting weight through your outside pedal, leaning your bike into the corner and pumping your body weight through the turn.
The riverside opens out and the trail runs through parks to a clump of trees, hiding a sewage works. Take the single track path immediately after the works that leads along the river bank to Park Hill Bridge.
Immediately after the bridge take the track on the right through the gate house and follow the drive to the pond. A short distance along the pond is a turning right, south, on a track that becomes grassy in the woods. Follow this path to a line of beech trees at a field margin. This path gradually becomes more distinct past a cottage and farmyard to join the main road. Turn right, up hill, on the main road. Just after the next turning to the right there is a path on the left into the woods. The path here is narrow single track and grassy. Stay right to follow the line of the field boundary, and come out of the fields into a housing estate (Ashwood Road).
Follow the road, then straight ahead is an opening on to a park. Take the path here, trending to your right, to join a main path that trends back left. Keep left to cross the main road into a small carpark, in the Scotstown Moor Nature Reserve, and follow a selection of paths to the southern boundary on the road. At the road turn left, towards a wooded hill. Enter the these woods and ride along the ridge line through the houses and on to the main road (A92 Parkway). Cross the road, and using cycle-paths, make your way right to the main roundabout. Cross the road into the playing fields.
Follow the path around the western edge of the park, then at the southern limit take the steps and a path sign posted to Brig o'Balgownie. After a short while on the road, cross the Brig o'Balgownie, and before the crest of the hill, take a path through a break in the wall signed Seaton Park. Follow this riverside path around into main body of Seaton Park.
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Viewranger route profile: https://my.viewranger.com/route/details/MzI1MTYwNw==
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