Monadh Mòr

Monadh Mòr stands in the heart of the Cairngorms, a vast massif of high, rounded summits in the eastern Highlands. Its Gaelic name means ‘big moorland’ and the mountain straddles the Aberdeenshire–Highland boundary, twenty-five kilometres west of Braemar and twenty south-east of Aviemore. The summit is a broad, flat plateau with two modest cones at its eastern edge; the northern cone is three metres higher and counts as the true top. To the east the plateau drops away in steep, boulder-strewn cliffs above Glen Geusachan, where the Geusachan Burn begins its run down to the River Dee. The mountain’s remoteness means any ascent needs a long walk-in across empty moor and glen. Walkers usually pair it with the nearby Beinn Bhrotain to avoid repeated journeys, tackling the ridge that links the two at a 975-metre col. One popular route starts at the end of the road at Linn of Dee and follows Glen Geusachan to the cliff-foot before climbing the north ridge. From the north-west a longer but quieter approach crosses the high Moine Mòr plateau and joins the same ridge. On the summit plateau the air is thin and the views stretch across the Cairngorms’ wild heart. To the north the eye follows the rounded summits of Braeriach and Cairn Toul, while southwards the plateau falls gently towards Glen Geldie’s grassy slopes. The cliffs of Leth-chreag mark the western edge, where the land plunges into Glen Eidart, a side valley of Glen Geldie. Eastward the cliffs frame Glen Geusachan, a silent glen where the burn begins its long course to the Dee.