The estate is recognised as one of the most important nature conservation landscapes in the British Isles and occupies nearly 8% of the Cairngorms National Park, covering 29,340 hectares (72,500 acres).

[6] The estate is characterised by rounded granite Cairngorm mountains to the north, with deep corries and crags down to the valley floor.

A car park and toilet facilities are provided by NTS close to the waterfall of the Linn of Dee, which is the main access point to the area.

[8] The estate contains examples of remnants of the ancient Caledonian pine forest, heather moorland, juniper scrub and a part of the high Cairngorm plateau.

[3] The architectural importance of the estate is reflected in the fact that there are 5 listed buildings including Mar Lodge, which was built in 1895 by the Duke of Fife.

[12] The estate includes land which has a number of national and international natural heritage designations, and is one of the country's largest areas of Scheduled Ancient Monuments and archaeological sites.

[13] In January 2023 Ruighe Ealasaid opened as an additional bothy on the estate, following two years of work by the MBA to bring a formerly derelict building back into use.

In 1962 the Mar Lodge Estate was briefly owned by the Ashdale Property Company,[19] who then sold it to the Swiss Panchaud family, in 1962.

The resulting plan included the following principles: A major objective of the National Trust for Scotland is to conserve the "wild land" quality on the Estate.

[24] The report also suggested removal of man-made elements such as sign posts, footbridges and bothies could be considered where they were "non-essential" to the management of the estate.

Native woodland is considered a prime habitat for conservation, and it is an objective of the National Trust for Scotland to encourage the Caledonian pinewood to expand its range by natural regeneration.

Scottish Natural Heritage considered that this failure was "despite strenuous efforts" and that the reason "for the shortfall would appear to be an underestimate of the original population size by as much as 20%", which resulted in the estimated deer population of 2700 in (year) 2000,[22] however it has been argued that efforts to reduce numbers were hampered by a reliance of traditional deer stalking practices, this being a stipulation of the Easter Trust funding.

[29] Forest regeneration had not been as successful as hoped, which the trust ascribed to the delay in reducing deer numbers to the target level.

[31] In 1997, in line with the objectives and policies of the Trust to enhance the wild land quality and the 'long walk in' they began track removal work on Beinn a Bhuird.

The re-vegetation was "supplemented by plants collected from densely vegetated areas within 50 metres of the track ... [and] plate-sized turfs of species such as heather and blaeberry".

[34] The 1996 Landscape Assessment had recommended the removal and revegetation of the majority of the tracks on the estate, including the one leading west from Luibeg to the edge of the Caledonian pinewood.

[35] In Vehicle hill tracks in northern Scotland, referring to this work, he wrote: a narrow path had been created, with unnecessary environmental impact on soils and vegetation from a new ditch excavated along the uphill side ...

The Easter Charitable Trust's contribution towards the purchase was conditional, requiring that "NTS shall make continuous and constant efforts to dissuade, and where possible to prohibit, the use of mechanical or wheeled vehicles".