Lairig an Laoigh

It is of glacial origin, dissecting the Cairngorm plateau, and it runs roughly north–south from Speyside to Deeside at one time being used as a drove road.

Between the public road in the Abernethy Forest and the one at Linn of Dee the trekking distance is 31 kilometres (19 mi).

[1] In its southerly part it lies in the Mar Lodge Estate, owned by the National Trust for Scotland where Derry Burn flows into Lui Water, a tributary of the River Dee.

Between the lairigs Ghru and Laoigh is the central Cairngorn Plateau, with Ben Macdui and Cairn Gorm situated on it, the second and sixth highest mountains in Britain.

The pass (and the nearby Lairig Ghru) is an example of glacial breaching where ice cuts through the watershed between two valleys.

Beef cattle from the far north and northeast of Scotland were driven through several passes through the Cairngorms, but particularly the Lairig an Laoigh, to reach Braemar and then onwards south often to the Falkirk Tryst where English drovers continued the journey.

[2][7] Continuing north the Laoigh crosses the Dee–Avon watershed at 740 metres (2,430 ft) and descends to the Fords of Avon refuge, another 4 kilometres (2.5 mi).

[5] Ascending again to 792 metres (2,598 ft) the route continues north to Bynack Stable, 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from Fords of Avon.