Creag Meagaidh National Nature Reserve

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Overview

The Creag Meagaidh NNR, on the western edge of the Cairngorms National Park, can feel like it’s a distillation of the entire Highlands. From the wild and windswept mountain plateau, which summits at Creag Meagiadh (3,701ft), to the beautiful shores of Loch Laggan and its mixed woodland, Creag‘Meggie’, as it’s fondly known to climbers, has everything. Rare mountain plants like woolly willow and Highland saxifrage battle against the elements on the barren summits, while black grouse flourish in the combination of woodland and open moorland, and you may hear their harsh croaking calls as the males ‘lek’ (do their mating dance) at the woodland edge in spring. Golden eagle and peregrine can sometimes be seen soaring overhead on the high tops, and in spring, the miniature montane willows put their delicate little catkins on show. In late summer the heather paints the moors a rich purple. In autumn, the roars of red deer in rut echo around the hillsides, and the winter thrushes – the redwings and fieldfares – begin to arrive.

Ratings & awards

Green Tourism Silver

Location

ABERADER, PH20 1BX

About the area

Apart from the Orkneys and the Shetlands, Highland is Scotland’s northernmost county. Probably its most famous feature is the mysterious and evocative Loch Ness, allegedly home to an ancient monster that has embedded itself in the world’s modern mythology, and the region’s tourist industry.