Loch Einich

Loch Einich lies at the head of Gleann Einich in the Cairngorms National Park. The loch fills a glacial trough 496 metres above sea level, surrounded by steep crags and high plateaus. Its outflow, the Am Beanaidh burn, flows north through the glen towards Coylumbridge. The loch is held between the Moine Mhor plateau on the east and the ridge of Sgòr Gaoith to the west. Coire Odhar forms the head of the glen where the loch sits. The loch is one of five Cairngorm lochs and forms part of a protected Ramsar Site. Adam Watson describes Gleann Einich as one of the grandest Cairngorm glens, rising from pine woods through open moorland to the loch. Its waters supply Strathspey, and the shore consists of glacial drift, boulders and storm beaches. A stalkers’ path leads from the foot of the loch up Coire Dhondail onto the Moine Mhor plateau near the Wells of Dee. Wildlife thrives around the loch’s arctic–alpine waters. Brown trout and Arctic charr swim in the loch, while dippers and greenshank feed along its shores. Whooper swans and greylag geese glide on the water, and snipe, mallard and red grouse nest in the surrounding heathery bogland. Ross’s path runs along the western shore, climbing to a’ Phocaid and the ridge beyond.