📌 White Mounth, Aberdeenshire
★★★★★
Lochnagar (Little loch of the noisy sound) is one of the Cairngorms’ great icons – Lord Byron even wrote a poem about it in 1807. This lofty summit’s northern side is riven by a magnificent coire, cradling a teardrop-shaped lochan with a series of smaller ones leading away from the cliffs like a string of pearls. The cliffs are renowned for winter ice climbing, with extreme skiing in the intervening gullies. For walkers there’s a surprisingly well-built path from nearby Glenmuick, with the classic view only revealed at the last minute. Returning along the Glas Allt takes in a majestic waterfall and the peaceful shoreline of Loch Muick; for sheer variety, this must be one of Scotland’s very best day walks.
📷 Chronological photo guide
Rainbow at Spittal of Glenmuick 
Clais Rathadan 
Near the bealach between Lochnagar & Conachcraig 
Lochnagar from Meikle Pap 
Lochan in the coire 
Looking back from the traverse around the coire rim 
View northwest into the main Cairngorms from the summit approach 
Approach to Cac Carn Beag (Lochnagar summit) 
Loch nan Eun from the summit 
View east over Meikle Pap (right) & Conachcraig (centre) 
Descent by the Glas Allt 
Glas Allt footbridge 
Glas Allt before the steep descent to Loch Muick 
Loch Muick 
Falls of the Glasallt 
Head of Loch Muick 
Middle part of Loch Muick 
Foot of Loch Muick 
Loch Muick from the return route 
Path around the foot of the loch 
View back up Loch Muick
🌍 Location
📌 Start / finish at Spittal of Glenmuick (minor road end 8 mi south of Ballater)
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NO 310852
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 56.952572,-3.136045
❌ No public transport within 1 mi
🚗 Car park (charge, gets full)
📝 Key info
▶ 20 km / 12 mi | ▲ 990 m | ⌛ 6-7 hr
Features: △ Meikle Pap (980 m); △ Lochnagar (1156 m, Munro); 🌊 Falls of the Glasallt; 💧 Loch Muick
⬤ Tough | Good tracks lower down and clear paths higher up; rougher and fainter sections across boulders near the summits.
Download file for GPS➡️ Anticlockwise circuit: start – Allt-na-giubhsaich – Clais Rathadan – Meikle Pap – south rim of Lochnagar corrie – Lochnagar – Falls of the Glasallt – Glas-allt-Shiel – Loch Muick – start
🥾 On our last visit
Wildlife: Deer near the start; lots of fungi down by Glas-allt-Shiel.
Weather: Sunny intervals after an initial rain shower; strong winds on the summit plateau.
October 2011
