Ben Macdui

Ben Macdui stands at 1,309 metres, the highest point of the Cairngorms and the second loftiest summit in the British Isles after Ben Nevis. Yet unlike its more famous rival, Macdui sits at the heart of a vast mountain plateau, surrounded by four other peaks exceeding 1,200 metres, creating a landscape that feels less like Scotland and more like the Arctic tundra. This is mountain wilderness on a scale found nowhere else in Britain.

The summit plateau is a place of extraordinary character. Boulder fields stretch in every direction, their granite stones shattered by millennia of frost. Snow lingers in the northern corries well into summer, feeding streams that cascade down into the ancient pinewoods far below. The mountain is home to the legend of Am Fear Liath Mòr—the Big Grey Man—a mysterious presence said to stalk climbers in the mist, though most who venture here find only profound silence and the whisper of wind across stone.

Reaching Ben Macdui demands commitment. The most popular route climbs from the Cairn Gorm car park, traversing the plateau past Lochan Buidhe, but alternatives approach through the Lairig Ghru or from Linn of Dee in the south. Whichever route you choose, this is serious mountain terrain requiring full hillwalking equipment and navigation skills. Those who make the journey are rewarded with one of Scotland's most profound mountain experiences—standing at the roof of the eastern Highlands, surrounded by nothing but sky and stone.