Happy Birthday Cairngorms National Park
Happy Birthday Cairngorms National Park
The Cairngorms National Park is 12 years old.
The UK’s largest National Park – and the most northerly – was opened in September 2003 by Liz Hanna, the great, great granddaughter of John Muir, founder of the National Park movement. With one in four of the UK’s endangered species living here, the finest collection of different landforms outside arctic Canada, over 1.5m visitors a year, home to 16,000 people and hundreds of businesses, we are part of an international family of National Parks
- Did you know …the Park is 4528 sq kilometres (1748 sq miles), which is twice the size of the Lake District and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Parks. This is an astounding 6 per cent of the size of Scotland.
- Five of the UK’s highest mountains lie within the Park and there are an impressive 55 summits over 900 metres.
- Wow … 36 per cent of land is over 800 metres and 2 per cent is over 1000 metres.
- You need to see it to believe it … the Cairngorms contains the finest collection of glacial landforms outside arctic Canada – from granite tors to deposits from the Ice Ages.
Alert
Latest from the National Park
Glenmore and Strath Nethy wildfire update - 25 July, 11am
A brief update on the Glenmore and Strath Nethy wildfire
Glenmore wildfire update - 24 July, 8.30pm
A major incident has been declared as residents of Nethy Bridge are evacuated.
Glenmore fire update - 24 July at 4.15pm
The latest on the situation at Glenmore.
Relevant alerts
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There is an ongoing wildfire situation at Glenmore within the Cairngorms National Park. Click here for all the latest. We would encourage members of the public to follow current guidance and be aware that the situation may change.
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Very high fire risk - 15 to 24 July
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has issued a very high wildfire warning impacting areas of the National Park on Wednesday 15 until Friday 24 July. If you are out and about in the Cairngorms National Park please observe the following guidance:
- Do not light any fire or barbecue, in line with the new fire byelaw
- Always ensure cigarettes are fully extinguished and take your litter (including glass) away with you
- Enjoy the outdoors responsibly - most wildfires are caused by human activity
- Stay alert - with dry vegetation and warm weather, fires can start easily, spread rapidly, and burn intensely
- If you see a wildfire, dial 999
For further updates on wildfire risk across Scotland, visit the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service website. To find out more about the fire byelaw, and to see your questions answered, visit our fire byelaw page here.