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Cairngorms

The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the east Highlands stretching from Speyside in the north to Deeside in the south. This vast area contains five peaks that rise to over 4,000 feet including Ben Macdui, the second highest mountain in the UK, plus some 50 more Munros, that’s mountains over 3,000 feet. The Cairngorms became the focal point for Scotland’s second National Park in 2003, and the area was recently named ‘one of the top 20 places to visit in the world’ by National Geographic Traveller Magazine.

The interior plateau of the Cairngorms is a place of Arctic-like wildness and supreme beauty, and it demands respect from even the most seasoned of hill walkers especially in winter. However, at a lower level, and in the more accessible parts, this extensive National Park offers so much to do from watersports and snowsports to woodland cycling and forest walks. In the many towns and villages that sit in the shadows of the high Cairngorms, from Grantown and Tomintoul to Carrbridge and Kingussie, visitors will find a very warm welcome, where nature and people live and thrive together.

A land to explore, enjoy and respect

From the remnants of the Caledonian pine forest to the high corries, the Cairngorms present a wide range of natural habitats that provide a home to some 25% of all the endangered species in the UK. This is a land to be valued and protected. A natural wonderland to be respected, but also one where locals and visitors can enjoy an unequalled range of outdoor recreation opportunities all year round.

From climbing the high peaks to the long walks through mountain passes such as the Lairig Ghru, any big exploration of the Cairngorms requires experience and good planning, but there are local guides to help ensure safe adventures, summer and winter. In her timeless masterpiece of nature writing, The Living Landscape, Nan Shepherd describes her own journeys deep into the Cairngorms. Her intense and poetic prose captures the raw beauty and enduring magnificence of this remarkable landscape.

To aim for the highest point is not the only way to climb a mountain.
Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain

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Wild at Heart

"...it’s about having the freedom to roam and explore wild places for adventures and experiences..."

The rocky landscape surrounding Loch Maree from Slioch, basking in the sunset

The High Tops

Our mountains comprise an intrinsic part of the Spirit of the Highlands. So much so that we have obsessively grouped them as Munros, Corbetts and Grahams. We photograph, paint, hill-walk, mountaineer, ice-climb, ski and Munro-bag.

The sun setting over Glencoe. The mountain peaks are covered in heavy snow. The mountains and pink clouds are reflected in a loch, which takes up 50% of the image

Local Heroes - Olympians from the Cairngorms

"Did you know that Badenoch & Strathspey...boasts a higher percentage of home-grown Olympians per head of population than anywhere else in the UK?"

A man with a blue backpack and in a red hat standing on Utsi Bridge in the Cairngorms. The wooden bridge is suspended over Utsi River and is surrounded by trees. The Cairngorm mountains appear out of focus in the background of the image.

Catching the Waves and the Wind in the Wild

Reconnect to nature and yourself through our stunning seascapes.

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