Cairn Ellick

Rising to 529 metres in the Aberdeenshire uplands, this modest Dodd occupies forested and moorland terrain north of the Grampian massif. The summit offers a relatively quiet hill day away from the better-known Munros to the south and west, with forestry tracks providing straightforward access through mixed woodland before emerging onto open ground.

• •The name 'Cairn Ellick' likely derives from Scots Gaelic 'càrn', meaning a heap of stones or rocky summit, combined with a personal name or territorial descriptor now lost to record—a common pattern in north-eastern Scotland where Gaelic placenames were later anglicised.
• •The hill sits within the Donalds classification zone by elevation, yet fails to qualify due to insufficient prominence, earning instead the less stringent Dodd status requiring only 15 metres of re-ascent from neighbouring tops.