New Centre - The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd

17th October 202511th October 2025

Volunteer Blog: Emm’s visit in February 2025

It was very exciting as the new Reindeer Centre building and Paddocks were up and running. It was still ‘work in progress’ with still lots to do. The Exhibition was not ready for the visitors yet but four reindeer were in the Paddocks. Visitors were coming in to see them, the new shop and to go and see the reindeer up on the hill. The new Reindeer Centre building is so amazing and really nice. There is a staff room upstairs and an office downstairs and there is even a boot room for all our jackets, waterproofs and boots. The dogs aren’t allowed in normally so they stay behind in Reindeer House. I found my gold plaque on the outside of the building celebrating my Loch Swim which I was very excited about.

On my first morning, I did the Hill Trip with Ruth and Cameron but we missed all the excitement when, back at the Centre, Pip the reindeer jumped over a low rail in the Paddocks on to the board walk and escaped leaving her 9-month old calf Pukka behind! She ran out the visitor’s gate entrance, around Glenmore to Loch Morlich, through the campsite and back. Eventually Fiona and Amy caught her and brought her back and made the low rail bit higher to stop her escaping again. The next day with Fiona I took Pip and her calf Pukka from the Paddocks back to the herd on the Cairngorm free range. I led Pukka up the hill and Fiona led Pip. Ruth and Cameron had been to find the reindeer that morning and had just made it to the Hill Trip visit spot. We saw Pip and Morven have a fight with their antlers and were pushing each other to establish the pecking order. Fiona gave the reindeer their breakfast and then took Dante and Suebi off the free range for their turn in the Paddocks. It was a busy day on the mountain when we saw two ambulances going up the ski road, then an air ambulance helicopter was in the carpark. I later found out there were two Cairngorm Mountain Rescue call outs and rescues that day.

One of the days I got to go to Tilly’s farm and onto the second free range area. I went with Fiona and Lotti in Brenda the reindeer truck. On the way there, we were so lucky as we saw nine Black Grouse lekking by the side of the road. It was very exciting to see. We walked up and met Tilly who was on the quad bike and was calling down the free ranging reindeer who were there. The reindeer were surrounding the quad bike because of the bags of reindeer feed on it. We found Dr Seuss, LX, Clouseau and Morse and Fiona and Lotti walked them off the hill as we were taking them back to the Paddocks for another reindeer swap. I fed the reindeer with Tilly. Me and Tilly went further up on the hill on the quad bike to look for the other group of free ranging reindeer including Scully, my adopted reindeer. Tilly and I called and called but they didn’t come to our calls so Tilly said she would come up and find them to feed them later that day as me, Fiona and Lotti had to get back to the Reindeer Centre. Tilly drove the quad bike with me hanging on downhill back to the farm where we met Fiona, Lotti and the four reindeer. It was so exciting. We stopped off at Bothy Bakery and got ourselves some hot drinks and treats. When we got back to the Reindeer Centre, we put the four reindeer boys in the Paddocks and swapped them for Oatcake, Dante, Suebi and Mangetout who with Andi and Hen I took to the reindeer herd on the Cairngorm free range. I led Oatcake up. The reason for the swap was that the girls getting a bit feisty in the Paddocks and were fighting each other so we decided to get the boys into the Paddocks as they are more laid back.

Some of our lovely males enjoying themselves free ranging.

Whilst I was there this time, I had my windiest and rainiest Hill Trip ever. It was on the free range. People who had booked on to it had a choice not to go and get a refund or go in the Paddocks and children weren’t allowed on it because of the conditions on the hill. Eleven people turned up so Me, Hen and Cameron did the Hill Trip. Rain was pelting in my face and I was trying not to get blown over and got very wet. The reindeer were not bothered by it. They were all sitting down when we got to them. It was so wild that after the Hill Trip we left in one big group. Normally people can leave the reindeer in their own time. Also Hen and Cameron kept their talks short and Andi and Ben had brought the reindeer down closer to the car park than normal. We said we could go by the shelter building by the carpark after the Hill Trip if anyone had any more questions. We said to the visitors at the beginning if they set off with us and the weather got too much that they could go back down. Afterwards, in the Paddocks, I talked to people who couldn’t go up on the Hill Trip that day.

Pumpkin closest to camera, part of the free ranging herd.

A couple of days after that Hill Trip the weather got worse meaning one day when I was there that it was too dangerous to go and find the reindeer and do a Hill Trip so no one went out that day. We all did inside jobs that day.

On the Hill Trips, you get to meet lots of interesting people from all over the world and it is brilliant seeing their reactions when they get to meet the reindeer and when you answer their questions about the reindeer.

I did the hand feed talk most of the time, guiding the visitors on how to hand feed a reindeer correctly and make the most of it. One day after a Hill Trip, me, Lotti and Ruth chilled out with Winnie for a few minutes. I had a selfie with them. When we got back to the Reindeer Centre, a visitor gave us all a chocolate bar each to say thank you for taking them to see the reindeer. It was very kind and thoughtful of them. On a Hill Trip, I saw Torch licking her 9 month old calf called Cappuccino which was very cute.

There was one very exciting trip a few days later when I went to find the reindeer with Ruth to bring them down to the visit spot. We walked up a very steep bit which was 935m high (the highest I have ever been in the Cairngorm Mountains) and also a different part which I have never been too. We found the reindeer up very high chilling and sitting down. Meanwhile Lotti went to the visit spot that day to drop off the food bags for the reindeer’s breakfast and started to climb up a high ridge to meet us. Ruth started leading the herd with a hand feed bag whilst I was the sheep dog at the back. We went down a bit towards a gully that we would have crossed. When we got to the gully, Ruth stopped and said there were snow bridges across the gully which were too dangerous to cross. Ruth and Lotti radioed each other to say the best plan would take the reindeer to a different visit spot so Ruth and I took the reindeer back on ourselves and went down the mountain a different way. The reindeer were a bit confused as we had changed direction. Lotti could see Ruth and me moving the reindeer from the ridge she was on. Ruth was about 200m ahead of me whilst I was at the back being a sheep dog encouraging them to move and stay together as a herd. Winnie walked part of the way with me by my side and she also walked part of the way by Ruth’s side too. I saw a white mountain hare run very fast past me going up the mountain. There were some snow patches which we had to cross and it was so lovely seeing the reindeer on the snow patches and I could even hear them crunching the snow when they walked across them. We met Lotti at the new visit spot. The Hill Trip had set off so we waited till Andi and Hen had got up to us with the visitors. Whilst we waited for them, we chilled with the reindeer. I then stayed for the Hill Trip with Andi and Hen. Me and Hen gave them their breakfast whilst Andi talked to the visitors and we did the Hill Trip. This day felt like one of my biggest achievements and I was so proud of myself. Ruth recorded the walk on Strava. I got a very special reindeer herding badge for it too.

Ruth and Emm after a successful free ranging mission.

Walking behind the herd of free rangers.

On other days I did inside jobs in the Reindeer Centre. I swept and hoovered with Henry the hoover the office, hall, shop, staff room and boot room. I cleaned and wiped the shop shelves. I helped Andi set up shelves in the staff room and move boxes. I helped Lotti measure for a sofa bed in the staff room. A few days later, Amy went to get it and I helped push it into place in the staff room. I made up the adoption gift packs up too which was a pen, a magnet and a pencil case. I made up the 1^st adoption packs which includes certificates, leaflets, ID cards, letters etc., folded the Paddock information sheets which the visitors can have when they go into the Paddocks and cut out the Cairngorm Reindeer Flag stickers.

Other jobs included feed mixing in the cement mixer and made up the hand feed. I also tidied up the welly area, washed the wellies and swept the outside sheltered area. My mum always said I never do these jobs at home!

Some mornings, I let the Paddock reindeer through to the display area for their breakfast and made sure their water bowls were topped up. In the evenings, I let the Paddock reindeer through to the bigger nighttime enclosure in the woods for their tea. I also poo picked in the Paddocks. I talked to people in the Paddocks too about reindeer.

I said bye to Lisette as she was leaving but she is looking forward to coming back to visit.

I am really looking forward to my next trip in October 2025 and am counting down the days.

Emm

7th February 20254th September 2025

New beginnings

We are opening to the public once again on Saturday the 8th February 2025! With some BIG changes though for the 2025 season as we’ve now moved into our brand new Reindeer Centre building, having operated out of the neighbouring Reindeer House since it was built in 1960.

The brand new Centre, with Reindeer House just beyond it.

However, we think it’s really important that people understand that everything is still a work in progress and changes will continue to happen for the foreseeable future as we continue landscaping and developing, so 2025 will be a year of us working around what we currently have in place, whilst it changes constantly. But at the moment, what’s the deal?! Let me try and explain what we will have on offer at first, and how this might change throughout the coming months:

To start with, let me make it clear that – like over the last 12 months – Hill Trips to visit the reindeer up in their mountain home aren’t affected in any way and will run completely normally up on the mountains. The differences are all down in Glenmore at the Centre – thankfully the hills and the reindeer don’t change!

Over the February half-term, we will have 4 reindeer on display in our Paddock area. From the end of the half-term the Paddocks will be closed once again, opening again at the start of the Easter holidays and remaining open for the rest of the year. Just now much of the groundworks there are still to be done – we managed to get enough boardwalk completed in time to have reindeer on display at Christmas time, but there is still much to do over the course of the coming months. This includes a new Elf House (of course!), more viewing areas, another ‘bothy’ building, and a covered area for the reindeer. We will also landscape the ground within the Paddock itself to improve the aesthetics and make it more reindeer-friendly! As you can see in the photo below, there’s a lot to do from the stage we’re at just now…

The current Paddock area, with viewing platform at the right. Much more to come in the future!

As such, tickets will be initially be available on the day rather than for pre-purchase online. At times we will aim to have herders out in the Paddocks giving talks but much of the time the Paddock will be self guided, meaning our prices may vary accordingly at times.

At the moment, some of our previous display boards are up temporarily in the Paddocks for visitors to peruse.

On arrival to the Centre, visitors will now come directly into the new Centre to check in/purchase tickets, rather than Reindeer House. Our entrance ‘atrium’ is very much a work in progress still, with old signage temporarily still in use whilst new signage and displays are developed – this will all be updated gradually over the time as work is completed.

Emily has been working tirelessly on the design of the new shop, and ex-herder Olly has been spending his weekends building beautiful wooden stuff to make it look pretty! Andi and Cameron have added the finishing touches too. It’s a little smaller than our old shop so we’ll have to work out the best use of the space as we go, but right now it’s looking lovely.

The Exhibition is still being designed and we don’t have an opening date for this yet, so for the time being visitors for the Paddocks will be bypassing that area and going back out the building the way they came in. It also means we have space to work on displays behind the scenes for the time being.

Exhibition room, which in the future visitors will pass through on their way out to the Paddocks.

One thing we do have up on display already is our ‘Thank You board’ for the people who pledged for our Crowdfunder appeal last year for their name to be displayed on the wall in the new Centre…

… and the plaques are up for those who pledged for one too!

And here’s our new office! It’s been a bit of a juggling mission to get everything to fit in, but we’re just about there…

And of course, how about the car park? Last year the builders used it for their temporary cabin and machinery, and over Christmas we used it ourselves for staff. Just now we’re finishing off signage to get it ready to open to the public, and it will include a designated disabled space and (hopefully) EV chargers. Please note that it will be for customer use ONLY (you can’t park there just to walk to the beach!) during our opening hours.

Car park – signage and parking bays still to be added, along with barrier between it and the road.

In no way will the car park be big enough at busy times of year for all our visitors, but there is still parking elsewhere in Glenmore, and in a very tight space it is as big as the surroundings allow. How we wish that the Reindeer Centre and it’s associated groundworks didn’t need to be shoe-horned into such a steeply sloping area – it’s made everything so much more difficult, but we can only do our best with what we have!!!

So here’s to the year ahead. Although we were working hard behind the scenes, at times last year we felt rather like we were twiddling our thumbs waiting for the building to be signed over to us – but now it is onwards and upwards from here on!

Hen

7th June 202411th March 2025

An Update on our New Reindeer Centre

In January 2021 we embarked upon a project of a lifetime here at The Cairngorm Reindeer Centre. For many, many years we have operated out of Reindeer House, with a modest shop/reception area and to say the least a cramped office.

Visitors arriving would sometimes come in and say ‘where’s The Cairngorm Reindeer Centre’, slightly incredulous that our place, with such a grand name was so small and homespun. But equally many of our visitors and supporters have loved the way it is and I suspect are slightly worried that any change may be for the worse.

We hope the new Centre will bring as much joy as this to everyone who visits the new Exhibition and Paddocks! Photo by Joanne Weston, taken in October 2023. Thanks for sharing it with us!

But please be rest assured that the reindeer, the herders and the passion for our unique herd of reindeer will be no less than it already is and our new facility will tick lots of boxes for everyone, whether able or unable to make it out onto the hill to see the free-ranging herd. It will also be a game changer for our dedicated reindeer herders who will be able to work out of a purpose built work place where they can ‘come in from the cold’, dry their clothes and work in a comfortable spacious office with a dedicated area to have a break.

Taking down the old Exhibition in January 2024 – the end of an era!

A tractor was recruited from the farm to help with the clearing of the old Exhibition.

The site for the new building is in our reindeer Paddocks, which is quite a steep bank, so there was an initial dig out to provide a flat surface at the same level as Reindeer House on which to place the foundations. That started in mid February and without a doubt the snowless winter worked in our favour. Since than the foundations have been laid, the concrete floor poured in and then in a flash a very large crane arrived, the site was buzzing with tradesmen and a lorry came with prefabricated panels. The crane lifted the panels on to the site and the internal walls and roof of the building went up in double quick time.

The gabion baskets go in behind where the new building will be – March 2024.

Right from the start, after we received an extremely generous donation from a long term supporter the process of finding an architect, doing a feasibility study, drawing up plans and finally going for planning permission has been seamless. Much credit needs to go to our architect Catriona Hill, from Oberlanders, who has been our guiding light/guardian angel throughout the process. And here we are now more than half way through the construction and a completion date pencilled in for the end of October.

By the middle of May we could really see what space we will have for our shop, exhibition, reception area, toilet, office, plant room and staff room. We are limited for space because we still need as much room as possible for the reindeer Paddocks, but we are extending their range into the wood to provide them with shelter from the hot sun and rain (they of course won’t need shelter from the snow!).

And just like that, within a few days the building went up and the roof went on.

So, when we are all finished and everything is open as normal visitors will arrive and come into the new Centre before making their way through the new exhibition and on to the reindeer out in the Paddocks. With the incredibly successful crowd funding we will be kitting out the inside of the Centre and the Paddocks with all our fascinating facts about reindeer, the history of the herd and the amazing world of reindeer herding. We also intend to have some immersive film of our reindeer in the different seasons. In particular to be able to show visitors, who are unable to walk out onto the mountainside just how friendly and well adapted our reindeer are to their mountain environment.

Tilly

19th January 202411th March 2025

A Brand New Reindeer Centre!

On 4^th August 1989 Alan and I took over the ownership and management of the Cairngorm Reindeer. We had both been working for the family who owned the herd for a number of years and when Mr Utsi and then Dr Lindgren passed away the opportunity arose for us to buy the herd.

Back when Alan and Tilly took over the Reindeer Centre in the late 80s (and Alan had more hair!)

To this day the 4^th August is etched on my brain. Our children were 3 and 4 years old and we had never had our own business, Alan had been employed by Dr Lindgren and I was initially a volunteer. But we had lots of ideas and we had a beautiful herd of reindeer.

The requisite Smith family photo – Tilly and Alan with Alex and Fiona, and obligatory reindeer.

We immediately converted part of Reindeer House into the ‘Cairngorm Reindeer Centre’, with reception, shop and office at one end leaving the rest of the house for living in with our young family and friends, many of whom who were volunteer reindeer herders. The reindeer paddocks beside the house became a display area for visitors to see a small group of reindeer, along with the 11am Hill Trips to the herd on the mountains.

The shop and reception area, in what was once the living room of Reindeer House.

Nearly 35 years later and the status quo continues. The only difference is that we’ve all got older; Alan and I moved out to our new ventures at Glenlivet (although still closely involved with the reindeer) and our daughter Fiona is living at Reindeer House with many of the other herders (they’re paid now though!). We attract more visitors and there are extra daily visits onto the hill to the herd.

The set-up has worked really well and the homespun infrastructure and hard working herders, along with a unique herd of free ranging reindeer, has been a great story. I have written three books around the life of reindeer and our journey with them and the herd is still looked after by us along with a band of enthusiastic, caring and clever people. Our herders today have brought with them tremendous life skills which have hugely progressed the way the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre is run from day to day. But most importantly the welfare and care of the reindeer is still at the heart of everything we all do on a daily basis.

Looking after the herd. Photo: Alex Smith

Tilly with Scrabble. Reindeer are the heart of the business, and always will be, regardless of the changes around them. Photo: John Paul

In the summer of 2021 we received an incredibly generous donation from a long term reindeer adopter who asked that the monies they donated be put towards upgrading the current facilities at Reindeer House, which would involve returning the house to a domestic property and constructing a stand alone building for our reindeer shop, exhibition and office.

Exhibition displays. They’ve improved a lot over the years, but the building housing them was definitely getting shabbier and shabbier!

The following January we engaged with an architect and since then we have been going through the process of agreeing plans and applying for planning permission and the building warrant. With all the statutory requirements in place we began work last September, building a 16 bay car-park close to the Paddocks. The car-park is now nearly finished (but not available for parking in yet) and work is due to start on the new building in early February, which will be situated in our existing Paddock area.

The artist’s impression of the shiny new building!The existing Reindeer House building can be seen at the left hand side here, with the entrance to the new car-park on the right hand side.

As normal we closed for a few weeks on 8^th January 2024 and immediately our son Alex, with help from herders, began to demolish the wooden structures in the Paddocks to make space for the new construction. There is a tinge of sadness seeing the old buildings (that we built ourselves) coming down but I suspect the improvements are long overdue and we are imagining a really special place for visitors to come to learn about our wonderful herd of reindeer alongside new displays, children’s activities and of course reindeer. Most importantly the new Centre will be access to all abilities.

We closed to the public on Monday 8th January. By Friday the 12th the Paddocks looked like this!

So exciting (and expensive!) times ahead. Unfortunately a bit disruptive too as the Paddocks will not be available for viewing reindeer while the building is constructed. However once we re-open to the public on 10^th February we will otherwise still operate as normal with reception, shop and office where they have always been and the daily Hill Trips to the herd will continue as usual.

Hill Trips will continue as normal – tickets available on our website (from 30 days in advance)!

To check out what is available and how you can still come and visit do keep an eye on our website for updates and once construction gets underway we will have a better idea of how things are progressing, and more of an idea of the duration of the work.

Tilly