Ben Macdui

Ben Macdui stands in the Cairngorm Mountains of Aberdeenshire, the second-highest peak in Britain after Ben Nevis. It rises to 1,309 metres on the southwestern edge of the Cairngorm plateau, overlooking the Lairig Ghru pass to the west and Loch Etchachan to the east. The mountain marks the boundary between Aberdeenshire and Banffshire and is classed as a Munro. Before accurate 19th-century maps, many thought Ben Macdui might be the highest point in Britain. Surveys in 1846–47 confirmed Ben Nevis as taller, though the debate added to the mountain’s fame. The summit holds a direction indicator erected in 1925 by the Cairngorm Club of Aberdeen in memory of Alexander Copland. It shows the main peaks visible on clear days and points to places like Braeriach and Cairn Toul. Snow patches linger in places such as Garbh Uisge Beag, and the mountain is linked to the legend of Am Fear Liath Mòr, the Big Grey Man. Queen Victoria climbed it in 1859, describing the scene as wild and solitary. During the Second World War, commandos trained here, and in 2001 two US F-15 jets crashed near the summit. Visitors usually start from Coire Cas car park, following a seven-kilometre path over moorland to the top. An alternative route comes up from Loch Etchachan, reached from Loch Avon or Glen Derry. From the summit, the view stretches across the plateau and down into the Lairig Ghru. The remains of a small shelter built by surveyors in 1847 still stand near the trig point. On clear days, the direction indicator helps identify the most distant mountains.