Cowton Burn is a stream that rises in the Mounth, or eastern range of the Grampian Mountains, on some of the northwest slopes of the Durris Forest west of Netherley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

The Grid Reference for the headwaters is NO 925 823); Cowton Burn is a tributary to the Cowie Water.

The stream flows downslope on an easterly course as it makes its way to discharge to the Cowie Water.

A number of historical analysts, including the 19th century researcher Gabriel Jaques Surenne and contemporary authors Watt and Hogan, hypothesize that the Battle of Mons Graupius was fought in or slightly east of Cowton Burn watershed.

[3] Immediately above the confluence with the Cowie Water, one can look down and see expanses of Fetteresso Forest to the west, at the edge of which is the Rickarton House estate, founded by Colonel William Rickart Hepburn in the first decade of the 19th century.