INTRODUCTION

The Cairngorms National Park officially opened on the 1st of September 2003. It is Scotland's second national park, and the U.K's largest at 3800 square kilometres (1400 square miles).

It stretches from Grantown on Spey to the heads of the Angus Glens, from Ballater to Dalwhinnie and Drumochter including much of the Laggan area in the southwest and a large area of the Glen Livet estate and the Strathdon/Glen Buchat area. Home to 46 Munros (mountains over 3000 feet high) and some of Scotland’s cleanest rivers.

The National Park area is home to a quarter of Scotland's native woodland with the biggest continuous stretches of near-natural vegetation in Britain. It is a refuge for a host of rare plants and creatures, including 25% of the U.K's threatened species.