[4] The view to the south takes in the Cree Estuary and Wigtown Bay, and extends as far as the Lake District, the Isle of Man and Snowdonia.

Cairnsmore of Fleet is home to many of the typical habitats of upland Britain, such as grasslands of purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea), Calluna vulgaris and Vaccinium myrtillus heaths and localised blanket mire with Trichophorum and cotton-grass (Eriophorum).

[13] Red and black grouse are managed on the estates, and there is extensive grazing by domestic sheep (chiefly Scottish Blackface) and cattle, which helps maintain habitats for birds.

[8] The landscape of Cairnsmore of Fleet is typical of the granite uplands of Galloway, consisting of open moorland, with montane ground at higher altitude.

A national nature reserve (NNR) was established in 1975 to protect the continuity between un-afforested moorland and montane ground above the potential tree limit.

This takes in the subsidiary summits of the Knee of Cairnsmore and Meikle Mulltaggart to form a circular route on the eastern side of the mountain.

[24] The enclosure process was resisted by some tenants, and during the 1720s the Cairnsmore of Fleet moors became the headquarters of Billy Marshall, leader of a group known as the "Galloway gypsies" who demolished dykes in the area during 1724.

The Galloway gypsies also engaged in smuggling, and are reputed to have made their base at "Billy Marshall's cave" on the north side of the mountain.

[23] During the Victorian period accessibility via the railway led to a boom in grouse shooting, with sporting interests becoming the main activity on the western side of the hill.

Between 1940 and 1979 eight crashes occurred: the earliest was a Luftwaffe Heinkel bomber, and the latest a United States Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.