The Monadhliath Mountains , or Monadh Liath, are a range of mountains in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Monadh Liath is

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

, and means "grey mountain range". Running in a northeast to southwest direction, it lies on the western side of Strathspey, to the west of the

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 ...

and to the south east of

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoology, cryptozoological Loch Ness Mons ...

. Its southwestern limit is usually taken to be Corrieyairack Pass (763 m) but similar uplands continue to Glen Roy and Spean Bridge. The range is within the

Highland council area Highland (, ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the United Kingdo ...

, and the south and east fringes are within 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 ...

. The high point of the range is Càrn Dearg, at , located south of

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

. This is one of four

Munro A Munro (; ) is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over , and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevi ...

s in the Monadhliath, the others being A'Chailleach (), Geal Chàrn (), and Càrn Sgulain (). The Monadhliath Mountains are designated a

Special Area of Conservation A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

(SAC). The Monadh Liath differs greatly in character from the greater Highland mountains to the south and west, as an elevated moorland with no proper ridges. The four Munros are all on the Spey rim, three making a classic circuit from Newtonmore; the interior is rarely visited. The main valley within the Monadh Liath is the Findhorn. It is unusually sinuous, being an incised meandering river valley very little altered by glaciers. The landscape of the Monadh Liath is one of the most ancient in Britain, its essentials as a secondary massif flanking the Cairngorms having evolved continuously since the Caledonian Mountains were created over 400 million years ago. Thus the land surface still slopes gently northwest towards the Great Glen, away from the main Grampian divide which crosses the Cairngorms. Although icesheets have repeatedly covered the Monadh Liath, they have done little to change its character: there are no corries away from the Munros fringe, and only a few short glaciated troughs, notably Glen Killin on the north. It has just become recognised that thin ice on the plateau is frozen to the ground, but as it starts to flow into the troughs it thickens, accelerates, and warms up so it can erode and enlarge them. This has occurred as recently as the last (Younger Dryas) glacial period ~12000 years ago. The interior of the Monadh Liath is remote and desolate, with little remaining native tree cover.Strategic deer management plan for 2015-2024
/ref> This is a result of human activity, deforestation and

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...

by sheep and deer over the last thousand years, in common with much of the Scottish Highlands. The renewable energy gold rush has already led to the Glendoe Hydro Scheme above Fort Augustus. The actual reservoir and dam are not unduly intrusive, but the extensive network of heavy-duty access roads to service all the weirs diverting water into the catchment have altered its remoteness and wildness. These roads have also facilitated a very large wind energy project, one of several encouraged by proximity to the high-capacity Beauly-Denny power transmission line over Corrieyairack Pass, and which now dominate the NW Grampian skyline in views from the Cairngorms and Western Highlands up to away.

References

{{coord, 57, 10, N, 4, 00, W, display=title, region:GB_type:mountain_source:GNS-enwiki Mountains and hills of Highland (council area) Mountain ranges of Scotland