The Cairngorms: Ben Macdhui seen from Carn a'Mhaim

The Cairngorms refers to a mountainous region in the Eastern Scottish Highlands. Consisting of a large elevated plateau adorned with low, rounded glacial mountains, this area became Scotland's second national park (see Cairngorms National Park) on 1st September 2003.

The Cairngorms features the highest plateaux in the British Isles and is home to four of the five highest mountains in Scotland:

• Ben Macdhui, 1309m
• Cairn Gorm, 1245m
• Braeriach, 1296m
• Cairn Toul, 1293m

These mountains are all Munros, and there are a further 13 mountains with this categorisation across the area, of which another five are among the twenty highest peaks in the country.

After she had climbed to the top of Ben Macdhui on 1859-10-07 Queen Victoria wrote, "It had a sublime and solemn effect, so wild, so solitary — no one but ourselves and our little party there . . . I had a little whisky and water, as the people declared pure water would be too chilling."

The region is drained by the Rivers Dee and Spey; and the latter's two tributaries: the Rivers Feshie and Avon.

They were created at the end of the last ice age, when the ice caps that covered most of northern Scotland remained static and formed the rounded summits of the mountains of the area. The many valleys are littered with glacial deposits from the period of glacial retreat. The most famous valley is the Lairig Ghru pass, a gouge through the centre of the mountains - a u-shaped valley, that was extensively used by drovers in the 19th Century herding their cattle to market in the Lowlands, from their smallholdings in the Highlands.

The Cairngorms are named after Cairn Gorm (Blue Cairn in the Scottish Gaelic language), the most prominent of the hills as seen from Speyside; thus the Cairngorms may be said to be the Blue Hills. This name contrasts with the original Gaelic name for the mountains - Am Monadh Ruadh, meaning the Red Hills.

The area is sparsely populated due to the extreme nature of the climate. Wild arctic plants flourish on the summits of many hills, as do birds such as the Capercaillie and the Ptarmigan. Snow patches remain on the hills until August while in the Garbh Coire Mor of Braeriach the snow melted just thrice in the last century. In the last few years _ a possible indicator of climate change - the quantity and longevity of Cairngorm snow patches has declined significantly.

A rapidly diminishing skiing and winter sports industry is concentrated in the area. A funicular railway opened here in late 2001, amidst some controversy. Supporters of the scheme claimed that it would bring valuable tourist income into the area, whilst opponents argued that such a development was unsuitable for a supposedly protected area.