The vast summit plateau is home of one of Britain's highest bodies of standing water, Lochan a' Garbh Coire.

There are two bothies near the mountain: Culra Lodge (closed due to asbestos contamination) to the northeast and Ben Alder Cottage to the south, both potentially providing shelter for walkers in the area.

[citation needed] A man's body was found near the top of Ben Alder in June 1996, at the edge of a cliff face, overlooking a lochan, his heart pierced by an old-fashioned lead ball bullet.

[4] The main characters David Balfour and Alan Breck Stewart are hosted by the Scottish clan chief Cluny MacPherson, fugitive after the Second Jacobite Rising, in one of his hiding places at Ben Alder.

[5] Prince Charles Edward Stuart briefly joined him there in early September 1746 whilst on the run after the failure of the Forty-Five.