Lochnagar

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

Mountain in the Grampians, Scotland

title: "Lochnagar" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mountains-and-hills-of-aberdeenshire", "munros", "marilyns-of-scotland", "mountains-and-hills-of-the-eastern-highlands", "special-protection-areas-in-scotland", "national-scenic-areas-of-scotland", "one-thousanders-of-scotland"] description: "Mountain in the Grampians, Scotland" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lochnagar" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Mountain in the Grampians, Scotland ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]

Field	Value
photo	Lochnagar from Meikle Pap - geograph.org.uk - 476818.jpg
photo_caption	Lochnagar summit and loch from Meikle Pap
name	Lochnagar
other_name	Beinn Chìochan
native_name	gd
coordinates
elevation	1155 m
elevation_ref
prominence	671 m
isolation_ref	19.21 km
parent_peak	Ben Avon
range	Grampian Mountains
listing	Munro, Marilyn
translation	breast-shaped mountain
pronunciation

::callout[type=note]

| location = Aberdeenshire, Scotland | map = Scotland | grid_ref_UK = NO244861 | topo = OS Landranger 44

Lochnagar or Beinn Chìochan is a mountain in the Mounth, in the Grampians of Scotland. It is about 5 mi south of the River Dee near Balmoral. It is a popular hill with hillwalkers, and is a noted venue for summer and winter climbing. At the foot of the mountain is a lochan, Lochan na Gaire, from which the mountain's name derives.

Names

The English name refers to a mountain loch in the northeast corrie, Lochan na Gaire, the 'little loch of the noisy sound'. Beinn Chìochan or Beinn nan Cìochan, 'mountain of breasts' or 'breast-shaped mountain', is probably the original Gaelic name for the mountain.

The summit itself is Cac Càrn Beag, meaning 'small cairn of faeces' in Gaelic, or less euphemistically, 'little pile of shit'. Peter Drummond, former chairman of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, has also suggested that cac is a corruption of ('slope'), which would lend a translation of 'little cairn of the slope'.

Geography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Lochnagar_summit_1933.jpg" caption="Scottish tourists on the summit in 1933"] ::

Lochnagar is located on the Royal Estate of Balmoral. Its principal feature is a north-facing corrie, around which most of the subsidiary tops, as well as the main peak, sit. The corrie is the location of many classic summer and winter climbing routes. The mountain is a Munro and is popular with hillwalkers at all times of the year, with the most common ascent route being from Glen Muick. Care should be taken on the summit in poor visibility: the plateau has few obvious features and has steep cliffs on its northern edge.

Climate

Lochnagar's summit experiences an Alpine Tundra Climate, with freezing, snowy winters and cool summers. The nearest UK Met Office weather station is at Braemar 6+1/2 mi northwest. The yearly temperature range is usually between -6.6 and. January has the highest average frosts, despite February nights being colder; January has an average of 26.9 frost days, compared with 24.3 in February. There is the risk of a frost at any time of the year, even in July and August, when each month averages one air frost every 10 years.

Nature and conservation

Lochanagar lies within the Cairngorms National Park, and also gives its name to Deeside and Lochnagar National Scenic Area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland. The designated national scenic area is 40000 ha in size, and covers the mountains surrounding Lochnagar as far south as the head of Glen Doll, as well Deeside to the north.

The mountain forms part of two designated Special Protection Areas, due to its importance for breeding dotterel (Charadrius morinellus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos).

Cultural references

Due to its location on the Balmoral estate the mountain has many royal links, and Queen Victoria climbed to the summit in 1848.

The poet Lord Byron spent time in the area in his youth, and wrote the poem, Lachin y Gair (also known as Dark Lochnagar), which also forms the basis of a song which would eventually be composed by Beethoven.

⁠To one who has rov'd on the mountains afar:

Oh! for the crags that are wild and majestic,

⁠The steep, frowning glories of dark Loch na Garr|Byron}}

A malt-whisky distillery located near the Balmoral estate on the south side of the River Dee produces the Royal Lochnagar Single Malt whisky.

The hill gives its name to one of the houses at Aboyne Academy.

References

"Locnagar isolation".
"Lochnagar". [[Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba]]: Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland.
"Lochnagar". [[University of the Highlands and Islands]].
Mitchell, Ian. (2004). "Scotland's Mountains Before the Mountaineers". Luath Press.
Townsend, Chris. (30 March 2011). "Scotland". Cicerone Press Limited.
"Property Page: Balmoral (Aberdeen part) and Birkhall". Who Owns Scotland.
(1982). "The Big Walks". Diadem Books.
(1985). "The Munros, SMC Hillwalkers' Guide". Scottish Mountaineering Trust.
"National Scenic Areas". NatureScot.
"Deeside and Lochnagar NSA". NatureScot.
"Sitelink - Map Search". NatureScot.
"Lochnagar SPA". NatureScot.
"Cairngomes Massif SPA". NatureScot.
. (2023). ["The Call of Lochnagar (2023)"](https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/63923/The-Call-of-Lochnagar--Paul-Mealor/). *Wise Music Classical*.
. (1 July 2023). ["The Honours of Scotland"](https://www.sco.org.uk/news/the-honours-of-scotland). *Scottish Chamber Orchestra*.
[[Black's Guides. Black's Guide to Scotland]], 33rd Edition (1903). p. 232.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::