The Coyles of Muick

Rising sharply above the Muick valley near Ballater, this distinctive triple-peaked Marilyn offers a rugged, heathery ascent. Its serpentinite geology creates a unique habitat for rare plants, while the summit provides an exceptional vantage point over the Royal Deeside landscape and the imposing, dark bulk of nearby Lochnagar.

• •The name is derived from the Gaelic 'An Coileachan', meaning 'the little cockerel', which likely refers to the sharp, prominent profile of its summits when viewed from the glens below.
• •The summit is home to the Princess Beatrice Cairn, erected by Queen Victoria in 1885 to commemorate the marriage of her youngest daughter; it is one of sixteen historic stone monuments scattered across the Balmoral and Birkhall estates.
• •Geologically, the hill is an anomaly in the region, composed of serpentinite rock. This magnesium-rich stone creates a base-rich soil that supports a specialized collection of flora quite different from the acidic heather moorland typical of the surrounding Cairngorms.
• •From the top, walkers are rewarded with a perfectly framed view down the length of Loch Muick, with the steep cliffs of the White Mounth and the sprawling forests of Glen Tanar visible in the opposite direction.
• •Standing at 599.2 metres, the hill misses out on a '600-metre' metric milestone by a mere 80 centimetres, though it remains a substantial Marilyn with more character than many hills twice its height.