Loch Etchachan is a remote freshwater loch set deep within the central

Cairngorms The Cairngorms () are a mountain range in the eastern Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national parks of Scotland, national park (the Cairn ...

plateau, in the

Cairngorms National Park Cairngorms National Park () is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of National parks of Scotland, two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National ...

, located in the eastern Highlands of Scotland. It is the highest waterbody of its size in the UK, the surface being above sea level. However, the highest named bodies of water in the UK are Loch Coire an Lochain, which lies 6km to the west of Loch Etchachan on the opposite side of the

Lairig Ghru The Lairig Ghru () is one of the mountain passes through the Cairngorms of Scotland. The route and mountain pass partially lies on the Mar Lodge Estate. Like many traditional routes, the ends of the route through the Lairig Ghru are like the e ...

, and Lochan Buidhe, which lies between Cairn Lochan and

Ben Macdui Ben Macdui (, meaning "MacDuff's mountain") is the second-highest Mountains and hills of Scotland, mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis, and the highest of the Cairngorm Mountains. The summit is above sea level an ...

Geography

Directly north of the loch and lying lower lies

Loch A'an Loch A'an is a remote freshwater loch set deep within the central Cairngorms plateau, in the Cairngorms National Park, located in the eastern Highlands of Scotland. Loch A'an, also called Loch Avon, is the source of the River Avon. Loch A'an i ...

and the imposing peak of

Cairn Gorm Cairn Gorm () is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. It is part of the Cairngorms range and wider Grampian Mountains. With a summit elevation of Height above sea level, above sea level, Cairn Gorm is classed as a Munro and is the sixt ...

. To the northeast lies

Beinn Mheadhoin or ) is a mountain in the Highlands of Scotland. It is a Munro with a height of and by some counts it is the twelfth-highest mountain of Great Britain. It lies in the very heart of the Cairngorm mountains, and is one of the most remote in the ...

, known for its broad and flat summit. To west, rising vertically lies the plateau of Carn Etchachan which constitute the lower slopes of

rising to a peak south of the loch, the second highest mountain in the UK. To the east, the loch flows into Little Loch Etchahan, which outflows through the gap made up of Creagan a' Choire Etchachan in the south and Stobb Coire Etchachan in the north, into what will become the Derry Burn turning southwards becoming the Lui Water before eventually flowing into the River Dee

Trivia

On 12 August 2009, members of the Inverness Rowing Club carried a boat all the way up to the loch from the Linn of Dee, and rowed on the loch. This is believed to be the first time the loch has been rowed upon. Similarly, on Saturday 25 June 2011, members of Dundee Mountain Club carried a 3m long windsurf board plus, mast, and two sails to the loch to be the first to windsurf upon it. They also carried an ironing board and iron to do

extreme ironing Extreme Ironing (also called EI) is an extreme sport in which people take ironing boards to remote locations and iron items of clothing. According to the Extreme Ironing Bureau, extreme ironing is "the latest dangerous sport that combines the th ...

there at the same time. Both of these feats involved carrying the equipment on an 18.5 mile (30 km) round trip including 2,500 ft (750m) of ascent.

References

Lochs of Aberdeenshire Freshwater lochs of Scotland Cairngorms {{Aberdeenshire-geo-stub