[3] The wider reserve hosts many rare arctic-alpine plants, including the largest area of montane willow scrub in Scotland, which is found at Corrie Sharroch.

[4] The importance of the area's flora has been recognised by botanists since the 18th Century, and the site is now protected by numerous national and international conservation designations.

Underlying the area are metamorphic rocks known as Dalradian rocks, which were formed around 600 million years ago during a period when the continent of Laurentia, which included Scotland and North America, began to collide with two other continents, Baltica (modern Scandinavia) and Avalonia (modern England).

It survives as an example of the typical vegetation of the post-glacial period, growing on moist, relatively base-rich soils: due to the effects of grazing by red deer and sheep it is now only found on lightly grazed areas such as ledges, steep rocky slopes or boulder fields.

[8] Many species of mountain birds, including ring ouzel, peregrine falcons, twite and raven can be seen in the NNR, and are joined by swallows and house martins during the summer.

[9] Over-grazing by deer is known to be detrimental to many of the rare plants present in the NNR, and in 1991 a fence was erected to enclose an area of around 60 ha in Corrie Sharroch.

[11] The Corrie Fee NNR is classified as a Category VI protected area by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

[18] In 2008 a visitor centre was constructed at end of the public road in Glen Doll by a partnership of Angus Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Forestry and Land Scotland.

[20] The path through Corrie Fee is one of the main routes to and from the summit of Mayar, which is often climbed in conjunction with its neighbour Dreish.