The peak that gave the whole range its name, rising above the Aviemore ski slopes and one of the more accessible big Cairngorms tops
Open accessin a National Nature Reserve open to the public
Cairn Gorm is the mountain that gave the Cairngorms their name, a 1,245m Munro — a Scottish hill over 3,000 feet (914m) — on the northern edge of the range above Aviemore. Its north side holds Scotland’s best-known ski area, Cairngorm Mountain, and a car park sits high on the hill, so the climb to the summit is shorter and better-marked than most of its neighbours. That makes it a common first Cairngorm, but the summit plateau (a high, flat tableland of bare stone) is fiercely exposed. A gust of over 170 mph was once recorded up here, among the strongest ever measured in Britain, and clear conditions can vanish within minutes. From the top a broad ridge runs south over the plateau towards Ben Macdui, the range’s highest point, with Loch Morlich and the pinewoods of Glenmore below to the north.
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