Ben Macdui
Local highlightThe second-highest mountain in Britain, a vast stony dome at the heart of the Cairngorm plateau
Open accessin a National Nature Reserve open to the public
After Ben Nevis, Ben Macdui is the highest mountain in Britain, reaching 1,309m at the roof of the Cairngorms. It doesn’t look much like a mountain from close up: the summit is a broad, boulder-strewn dome rather than a peak, because it sits on a huge, high plateau where several of Scotland’s biggest hills run together. That plateau is the thing to respect, arctic ground that turns featureless in mist, and the weather up here can shift to full winter conditions in any month. It’s a Munro, a Scottish hill over 3,000 feet, and the county top of Moray. The usual route reaches it from the Cairngorm Mountain car park across the plateau, or on the longer, wilder walk in from Deeside past the Mar Lodge Estate. Old stories tell of Am Fear Liath Mòr, the Big Grey Man, a presence said to follow walkers in the cloud up here — a good tale for the pub afterwards, though it’s the navigation that actually needs your attention. On a clear day the outlook across to Braeriach and Cairn Toul over the deep trench of the Lairig Ghru is deeply rewarding.
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