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Lochnagar and Loch Muick

Scotland, Cairngorms,  UK

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Walkopedia rating85
(Top 100)
Beauty
32
Natural interest
 15
Human interest
 7
Charisma
 31
Negative points
 (0)
Total rating
 85

 Vital statistics

Length:
Day walk
Maximum Altitude: 1,135m
Level of Difficulty: Strenuous

Key information: Lochnagar and Loch Muick

  • This walk climbs from the foot of the magnificent, glacial Loch Muick to a horseshoe of forbidding crags around a bleak high tarn.
  • The high Lochnagar ridge has superb views of the Cairngorms and the moorlands of the Balmoral estate. A steep track drops, beside beautiful waterfalls, back down to the royal lodge on the shore of Lock Muick.
  • This is a tough walk in remote mountains. Come prepared.


Walk summary

Lochnagar is a bit schizophrenic. At times, it is sinister and gloomy, a dour and capricious old grandee with its dark (thousand foot) cliffs hunched around the lonely loch at its base and the bleak, monochrome moorland rolling away to its south. Then the sun emerges and the same moorland becomes a delicate patchwork of bright greens and browns, the ridges now receding into delicate distant blues. But it always dominates mid Deeside, always present even if often hidden in low cloud. It is the highest point for miles around, with huge views in all directions.

Lochnagar is at the heart of the Balmoral estate, where the Royal Family escapes each summer from the duties and formality of the south and the area is redolent of royal associations, with Queen Victoria in particular.

The area is now a wildlife reserve, home to eagles, otters, mountain hares and red squirrels, as well as a permanently too-large population of red deer which, reserve or not, still have to be culled each year. In a deep, narrow glen to the south lies Loch Muick, a textbook example of the effects of glaciation and as moody and unpredictable as its great neighbour to the north.

Lochnagar is usually approached from Glen Muick to the south. The walk begins by crossing the wide, boggy valley bottom, a lung-opening 20 minute tramp between peaty pools, banks of heather and bogs of impossibly bright green moss. It then climbs through a pleasing stand of large pines, with sunny, grassy glades between patches of crunchy pine needles, before emerging onto the bare hillside and starting the real climb.

The path climbs steadily through beautiful country beside a little burn for an hour or so. Gradually, the moorland across Glen Muick, and the ridges beyond, come into view.

Turning left, you wind slowly up a long field of broken granite boulders to a high, bare shoulder between the summit ridge and the Meikle Pap.This is a favourite lunch spot, with a fine view down into the cauldron, where the peak-base loch sulks, dour and grey, beneath the tremendous cliffs of the curving summit ridge.

Then comes the hard bit, although it really isn't too bad; 20 minutes of mildly unpleasant scramble up a steep slope of broken granite boulders to a cairn on the broken summit plateau. The track follows the rim of the great chasm round to the west, dipping and winding up round the back and onto the bare rock of the final ridge, to the final tor of vast weather-broken boulders. Nestle into sheltered crevices and admire the huge views.

Then it is the long tramp home. You can retrace your steps, or head almost due south to Loch Muick, then walk out along its shore, a longer route, but unforgettably beautiful. The path descends over heather moor, which slowly folds into the upper waters of the Glas-Altt burn. Scramble down beside a spectacular waterfall through great banks of imperial purple heather, gratefully reaching the lakeside and level ground in a stand of fine mature pines that shelter a small royal lodge, snug on a golden little beach by the lakeside. Turn left along a well maintained track, and trudge out along the lakeside.

There are numerous excellent walks around Loch Muick, including a 10 mile circuit of the lake, which can be extended by trails up from the lake to higher tarns, and tracks onto the high hills to the south-west, including the capel Mounth track to Glen Cova.

William Mackesy's account of this walk

The grey precipices of Lochnagar loom high above the river Dee as it winds, dark and peaty, out of its highland glen into gentler territory. It is the highest point for miles around, with huge views in all directions, as far as the sea some 30 miles to the south-east and Ben Nevis some 65 miles to the south-west. Nearer at hand, the wild moors and rocky peaks of the high Cairngorms dominate the northwestern skyline.

 

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Practical information for walking in Scotland, Cairngorms, UK, Lochnagar and Loch Muick

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Responsible travel matters, a lot. How you travel will make a real difference - for better or worse. PLEASE consider this when making plans. Read more