[1] Dalwhinnie is located at the head of Glen Truim and the north-east end of Loch Ericht, on the western edge of the Cairngorms National Park.

It is one of the coldest villages in the UK, having an average annual temperature of 6.6 °C (43.9 °F), making it suitable for winter walking and mountaineering.

Dalwhinnie railway station lies on the Highland Main Line from Perth to Inverness.

Dalwhinnie holds the UK low temperature records for the months of June, September and October.

[6] For the 1951–1980 observation period, it averaged a temperature of 6.3 °C (43.3 °F) compared to Braemar's 6.4 °C (43.5 °F),[7] making Dalwhinnie one of the coldest inhabited places in the British Isles.