Creagan a' Choire Etchachan

This high Munro Top overlooks the deep, dark waters of Loch Etchachan. Sitting on the northern shoulder of Derry Cairngorm, it offers a dramatic perspective of the Coire Etchachan cliffs. The terrain is stony and weather-beaten, serving as a wild, high-altitude vantage point for those trekking between Braemar and the Ben Macdui plateau.

• •The name is Gaelic for the ‘crags of the corrie of Etchachan’, referring to the steep, rocky ground that drops away from this 1107-metre plateau toward the loch below.
• •The summit provides a grandstand view of Loch Etchachan; sitting at 927 metres above sea level, it is the highest body of water of its size in the UK and often remains frozen deep into the spring.
• •From the cairn, walkers earn a clear look at the massive eastern face of Ben Macdui and the sheer, dark walls of the Shelter Stone Crag at the head of Loch Avon.
• •Most walkers pass this hill on the long approach from Braemar through Glen Derry, often using the nearby Hutchison Memorial Hut—a small stone refuge at the foot of the corrie—as a base for exploring the high tops.
• •Despite being higher than almost every mountain in England and Wales, its proximity to the even taller Ben Macdui means it is usually relegated to the status of a scenic shortcut rather than a primary destination.