![Duchray Hill [Mealna Letter]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Duchray_Hill_-_west_ridge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_484598.jpg)
Scotland
Duchray Hill [Mealna Letter]
703M
2307FT
About Duchray Hill [Mealna Letter]
Rising above the head of Glen Isla near Braemar, this rounded, heathery Graham offers a quiet alternative to the busier Munros of the Mounth. Its broad plateau provides a sense of remote isolation, with the climb from Auchavan revealing a landscape of peat hags and sweeping moorland characteristic of the eastern Highlands.
Key Statistics
Rank
111th Highest in Region
Parent Range
Lochaber
Prominence
?
265m
Nearest Town
Braemar
Geology
You are walking on Duchray Hill Gneiss, a tough, layered rock. It formed from ancient mud that was squeezed and heated into the banded stone seen here today.
Find It
Latitude
56.7888°N
Longitude
3.3750°W
Did You Know?
- •The name is a fusion of Gaelic elements: Duchray likely stems from Dubh Chruach, meaning 'black hill', while the alternative name Mealna Letter is derived from Meall na Leitir, the 'hill of the slope'.
- •From the summit cairn, the view north is dominated by the massive bulk of the Munros Glas Maol and Creag Leacach, which tower over the head of the Caenlochan Glen.
- •The hill sits at the northern fringe of the Angus Glens and is frequently climbed following the old drove road from Glen Isla that once served as a high-level trade link towards the Dee valley.
- •Despite its status as a Marilyn, the broad, peat-pocked summit plateau is so vast that finding the exact highest point on a misty day can feel less like mountaineering and more like a scavenger hunt through a bog.