Cock Cairn

Sitting on the high, peaty plateau between Glen Tanar and Glen Mark, this rounded Tump offers a sense of vast isolation typical of the Mounth. Though often overshadowed by its more famous neighbour, Mount Keen, the summit provides an impressive, unobstructed perspective across to the massive Lochnagar massif to the west.

• •Derived from the Scots or English for the male red grouse, the name reflects the hill's status as prime habitat for moorland game birds.
• •The summit looks down over the head of Glen Mark, where the distinctive crown-shaped 'Queen's Well' commemorates a visit by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1861.
• •While the ascent from Aboyne through Glen Tanar is long, the hill is most easily bagged as a short detour for those already climbing Mount Keen, the most easterly Munro.
• •Despite its respectable height, the lack of a defined path ensures you are far more likely to share the summit with a startled ptarmigan than another human being.