Lochnagar - Cac Carn Beag

About Lochnagar - Cac Carn Beag

Dominating the skyline of Royal Deeside, this celebrated Munro is defined by its massive northern corrie and sheer granite precipices. The approach from Glen Muick leads to a vast plateau and the twin summits of Cac Carn Mor and the higher Cac Carn Beag, offering rugged terrain and a truly grand scale.

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Did You Know?

• •Derived from the Gaelic 'Lochan na Gaire', meaning the 'little loch of the noisy sound', the mountain takes its name from the water sitting 400 metres below the cliffs. The summit, Cac Carn Beag, is less poetically translated from Gaelic as 'little cairn of dung', likely referring to the appearance of the stony peak.
• •The poet Lord Byron, who spent part of his childhood in Aberdeenshire, immortalised the mountain in his 1807 poem 'Lachin y Gair'. His description of the 'steep frowning glories' of the dark mountain helped cement Lochnagar as a primary symbol of the Romantic movement’s love for the Scottish Highlands.
• •Located on the Balmoral Estate, the hill is famously associated with the British Royal Family. Queen Victoria ascended it in 1848, and King Charles III (writing as the Prince of Wales) set his children’s book, The Old Man of Lochnagar, among the caves and cliffs of the mountain.
• •From the summit of Cac Carn Beag, the view looks directly down into the dark waters of Lochan na Gaire 400 metres below. To the west, the high granite plateaus of the Cairngorms—Ben Macdui and Beinn a' Bhùird—dominate the horizon, while the southern view extends across the Angus Glens.
• •The mountain is a major venue for winter climbing, with the sheer cliffs of the northern corrie offering classic routes such as 'Glover’s Chimney' and 'The Black Spout'. These granite gullies and buttresses provide some of the most dependable ice and mixed climbing in the southern Grampians.
• •Despite its Royal connections and a path from Glen Muick so well-built it’s often called a 'highway', the mountain remains perfectly capable of ruining a day; the vast, featureless summit plateau is legendary for its ability to disorientate walkers the moment the mist rolls in.