From the heather covered rocky peak of Cruachan Chàrna, there are extensive views over Oronsay, Loch Sunart, Morvern, Coll and Isle of Mull.

[7] Carna contains a wide variety of habitats that support a large range of native wildlife species including otters, sea and golden eagles, orchids, harbour seals, Arctic terns, foxes, red deer, water shrews, woodpeckers, cuckoos, herons, curlews and kestrels.

Scotland hosts the only populations of European wildcat (sub-species Felis sylvestris grampia) in the British Isles, with numbers estimated at between 400 and 2,000 animals.

There are signs of terracing by early man and the northern part of the island is named Bac a' Mhathachaidh (Scottish Gaelic: "cultivated bank").

The island has a clear "in-bye" area of around 20 hectares (50 acres), which has been improved over hundreds of years for farming by drainage into an ancient 'Head dyke' and the cultivation of fields for haymaking and growing crops.

Originally forming part of the Kingdom of Dal Riata, and later the Lordship of The Isles, the island was a strategic hub and used as a clan gathering site on a number of occasions.