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Top Attractions in Cairngorms National Park

Strathdon

Strathdon is an area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated in the strath of the River Don, 45 miles west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. The main village in the strath is also called Strathdon, although it was originally called Invernochty due to its location at the confluence of the River Don and the River Nochty. Strathdon is an informal geographical area, this means there are no precise boundaries in terms of where it begins or ends. It is the founding place of the Lonach Highland and Friendly Society, and the Lonach Highland Gathering. This is a traditional Highland Gathering with the heavy events such as tossing the caber, hammer etc., and also hosts a competition of Highland dancing. Dances include the noted 'Highland Fling', 'Sword Dance', 'Seann Truibhas' and 'Reel of Tulloch'. Notable figures who have visited Strathdon include Sean Connery, Billy Connolly, Ewan McGregor and Queen Elizabeth II. Connolly owned Candacraig House between 1998 and 2013.

Delnadamph Lodge

Delnadamph Lodge is on the Balmoral Estate about eight miles north of the castle. The lodge and its estate was bought by Queen Elizabeth II for a figure believed to be around £750,000 in 1978 . The lodge is situated within a 6,700-acre estate and is located near the source of the River Don. The estate was bought because Balmoral did not have adequate grouse shooting. It was given by the Queen to her eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales, and his first wife, Diana, on their marriage, but Diana found the home uninviting and was not interested in repairing it. The original house was described as a "solid two-storey Victorian ten-bedroomed lodge" in 1981. The lodge was never occupied and was gutted by 1987, and subsequently offered to the Royal Engineers for demolition practice.

Braeriach

Braeriach is the third highest mountain in the British Isles, surpassed only by Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui. It is the highest point in the western massif of the Cairngorms, separated from the central section by the pass of the Lairig Ghru. The summit has a crescent shape, with several corries. In the north-facing corrie of Garbh Coire Mor the snow has completely melted just 5 times in the last century: 1933, 1959, 1996, 2003 & 2006 and the patches that linger there are the longest lying snow patches in Scotland. Probably the most commonly used route up Braeriach starts from Sugar Bowl car park, on the road leading the Cairn Gorm ski area. From here a path leads over the hillside to a steep sided rocky ravine known as the Chalamain Gap, before descending around 100 m to the Lairig Ghru. After crossing this pass the route heads for the summit via Braeriach's north ridge, crossing a subsidiary peak, Sròn na Lairige. The summit is about 9 km from the car park by this route.

Corgarff Castle

Corgarff Castle is located at Corgarff, in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland. It stands by the Lecht road, which crosses the pass between Strathdon and Tomintoul. The castle was built in the mid 16th century by the Forbes of Towie. In 1571 it was burned by their enemy, Adam Gordon of Auchindoun, resulting in the deaths of Lady Forbes, her children, and numerous others, and giving rise to the ballad Edom o Gordon. After the Jacobite risings of the 18th century, it was rebuilt as a barracks and a detachment of government troops were stationed there, on the military road from Braemar Castle to Fort George, Inverness. Military use continued as late as 1831, after which the tower served as a distillery and housed local workers. It remained part of the Delnadamph estate belonging to the Stockdale family until they passed the castle into state care in 1961 and gave the ownership of the castle to the Lonach Highland and Friendly Society. It is now in the care of Historic Scotland and is open to the public.

Balmoral Castle

Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located near the village of Crathie, 6.2 miles west of Ballater and 6.8 miles east of Braemar. Balmoral has been one of the residences for members of the British Royal Family since 1852, when the estate and its original castle were purchased privately by Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria. They remain as the private property of the royal family and are not the property of the Crown. Soon after the estate was purchased by the royal family, the existing house was found to be too small and the current Balmoral Castle was commissioned. The architect was William Smith of Aberdeen, although his designs were amended by Prince Albert. The castle is an example of Scots Baronial architecture, and is classified by Historic Scotland as a category A listed building. The new castle was completed in 1856 and the old castle demolished shortly thereafter. The Balmoral Estate has been added to by successive members of the royal family, and now covers an area of approximately 50,000 acres . It is a working estate, including grouse moors, forestry, and farmland, as well as managed herds of deer, Highland cattle, and ponies.

Kindrochit Castle

Kindrochit Castle is an early fortification in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Originally founded by Malcolm Canmore in 1059 AD as a hunting lodge on the banks of the Clunie, various authors have puzzled as to the reasons for siting the castle in this wild and remote location. C. Michael Hogan has noted that Kindrochit Castle as well as Kildrummy and Durris Castles were likely sited based upon strategic positions relative to the ancient Elsick Mounth trackway, which provided a strategic crossing of the Mounth of the Grampian Mountains. John Erskine, Earl of Mar showed the ruined castle at Kindrochit to John Taylor, the Water Poet when the writer made his Pennyles Pilgrimage to Scotland in 1618. Taylor, who rode with the Earl from Braemar Castle was told that Malcolm Canmore had built the castle. He thought it remarkable because he did not see another house in the next 12 days of their ride.

Ben Macdui

Ben Macdui is the second highest mountain in the United Kingdom after Ben Nevis, and the highest in the Cairngorms. After the defeat of Domnall mac Uilliam in 1187, Donnchad II, Earl of Fife, acquired Strathavon, territory stretching from Ballindalloch to Ben Macdui; because the mountain marked the western boundary of Donnchads territory, historian and place-name scholar Professor G. W. S. Barrow suggested that the mountain took its name from Donnchads family, the Mac Duibh. Ben Macdui lies on the southern edge of the Cairn Gorm plateau, on the boundary between Aberdeenshire and Moray. Probably the easiest route of ascent is from the Coire Cas car park at the foot of Cairngorm Ski Centre by way of a path that leads up over slowly rising moorland. This route is about 7 km long; a somewhat longer route allows one to also climb Cairn Gorm. One possible alternative route follows the path coming up from Loch Etchachan. This loch may be reached from Loch Avon to the north or by coming up from Glen Derry to the South. Other routes include coming over Derry Cairngorm, or via the Lairig Ghru pass, which lies to the west of Ben Macdui. Nearly all these routes are long days by Scottish standards. When coming from the south it is common to use a bicycle to cover the 4 km separating the road end at Linn of Dee from Derry Lodge at the southern end of the massif. Before the production of accurate maps of Scotland in the nineteenth century it was not known for certain that Ben Nevis was the highest point in Britain, and it was often thought that Ben Macdui might be the higher. After Ben Nevis was confirmed as the higher some locals planned to build a cairn on the top of Ben Macdui to make its height greater than the Lochaber peak, but these plans did not come to fruition. The summit of the mountain has a direction indicator erected in 1925 by the Cairngorm Club of Aberdeen in memory of a past president, Mr. Alexander Copland. The indicator shows the direction of the most important hills that can be seen from the summit in clear weather. It is claimed that Ben Macdui is the home of Am Fear Liath Mòr . Opinion is divided as to the substance behind this reported phenomenon, which it is claimed resembles either a Brocken spectre or a yeti. Snow-patches have been known to persist at various locations on Ben Macdui, most notably Garbh Uisge Beag.

Cairn Toul

Cairn Toul is the fourth highest mountain in Scotland, surpassed only by Ben Nevis, Ben Macdui and Braeriach. It is the second highest point in the western massif of the Cairngorms, linked by a bealach at about 1125 m above sea level to Braeriach. The mountain towers above the western side pass of the Lairig Ghru. Cairn Toul is often climbed in conjunction with other peaks. From the south, it may be combined with The Devil's Point, which lies about 2.5 kilometres south-southeast. Alternatively, it may be climbed from the north, including Braeriach and Sgor an Lochain Uaine. Both routes are long days by Scottish standards: around 15 km regardless of whether one starts from Coire Cas above Speyside, or Linn of Dee to the south. The mountain may also be climbed from the west, starting from Achlean in Glen Feshie. This provides for a slighter shorter route (around 27 km for the round trip), though the walker must negotiate a large expanse of undulating boggy plateau in order to reach the Breariach-Cairn Toul massif. There is a bothy, Corrour, at the point below Cairn Toul in the defile of the Lairig Ghru.

Ben Avon

Ben Avon is a mountain in the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. The highest point of the massif, known as Leabaidh an Dàimh Bhuidhe is classified as both a Munro and a Marilyn. Ben Avon is a very large and complex mountain sprawling over more than 30 km². The summit plateau is dominated by granite tors, one of which forms the summit. From the broad summit plateau ridges lead in almost every direction, allowing access from Glen Avon to the north, from Beinn a' Bhùird to the west and from Gleann an t-Slugain in the south. To the west of the summit lies the massive corrie, Slochd Mòr, with its rocky cliffs, and the approaches from the south and west take you close to the corrie rim. The most common ascent route is via the path in the deep glen that separates Ben Avon and Beinn a' Bhùird, or from Beinn a' Bhùird itself. The summit tor itself must be climbed in order to "bag" the mountain, though it is an easy scramble.

Glas Maol

Glas Maol is the highest point in the Mounth hills, in the southeastern part of the Highlands of Scotland. The broad, flat summit is divided between the council area of Aberdeenshire, Angus and Perth and Kinross, though the highest point lies wholly within Angus; indeed Glas Maol is the highest point in that council area. The western slopes of Glas Maol form part of the Glenshee Ski Centre ski area. The most common route of ascent goes through the slopes, starting from the highest point of the A93 road, the Cairnwell pass. This is the highest public road in Scotland; hence only around 400 m of ascent is involved. Glas Maol is often climbed in conjunction with Creag Leacach to the south or Cairn of Claise to the north. The broad ridge linking these peaks is topped by a Dry-stone dyke, which approximately corresponds to the border of the Angus council area.

Highland Folk Museum

The Highland Folk Museum, recognized as Britain’s first mainland open-air museum opened at Kingussie, Scotland in 1944. Named Am Fasgadh this became the third home for founder Dr. Isabel F. Grant’s core collection of Highland material culture, and as a living history museum with buildings such as the Lewis Blackhouse became the inspiration for the larger Newtonmore site. Opened in 1995 the Newtonmore site has gone from strength to strength, proactively reflecting many aspects of Highland rural life and culture through collecting, preserving, interpreting for and interacting with individuals, groups, communities and institutions both within and beyond the Highlands. The Museum now offers a variety of reconstructed buildings raging from an 18th-century highland township, traditional 1930s croft, tin school originally from Knockbain, corrugated church from Culloden, and various trades buildings such as joiners, tailors and clockmakers. Buildings are added on an annual basis to ensure that the traditional highland culture and heritage is preserved.

Doune of Invernochty

The Doune of Invernochty is a 12th-century castle in Scotland, of which only earthworks survive. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland note that it is "one of the finest examples of Norman earthwork castles in Scotland, and appears to be the sole Scottish example of a motte with Norman stonework on its summit." It is located in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, at the confluence of the River Don and the Water of Nochty. It stands between the villages of Bellabeg and Strathdon; the latter used to be called Invernochty. Doune of Invernochty is a scheduled monument. The name derives from the Gaelic Dùn Inbhir Nochdaidh which means "fort at the confluence of the Nochty." The Doune of Invernochty was built in the later 12th century, or early 13th century, and is likely to have been the work of the Mormaer of Mar. It was built at a time following the Davidian Revolution of King David I, which saw the introduction of Norman feudalism into Scotland. The remaining structure is a moated motte; an extensively modified natural mound, rising 12 metres from the bottom of the ditch to the platform, which is around 80 by 40 metres across. This is surrounded by a system of banks, ditches, dams and sluices which held water until drained in 1823. The remains of buildings on the platform include a 2-metre thick curtain wall, and the foundations of a church. The latter was in use as the parish church as late as the 17th century. In the Second World War an observation post was built on the Doune.

Lecht Ski Centre

The Lecht Ski Centre is situated on the A939 road between Cockbridge and Tomintoul, on the eastern side of the Cairngorms in Strathdon. The ski centre has been operating since the mid-1970s. Starting with 1 Poma ski tow, it has grown to a year-round highland activity centre with 20 maintained ski runs, 15 lifts and some snowmaking coverage. The infamy of the A939 road stems from its traditional heralding in of the Scottish winter by becoming blocked with snow drifts. Local folklore and legend has it that this road blocks from October to June each year. This is slightly exaggerated; however, it is frequently closed in any of these months of the year. Prior to the acquisition of snow blowers in the late 1970s a small portable ski tow was often set up in the field across from the Allargue Arms Hotel near Corgarff just below the snow gates giving approximately 200 ft of ski run.
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