Glen Shee to Mount Keen

The area included in this section of Munro's Tables includes much of the eastern part of the Mounth, and for the most part it is a vast high plateau from which many of the mountains rise as rounded domes. The finest impression of this area is from Deeside to the north. From many points between Aboyne and Ballater, Lochnagar is seen rising to its full height above the valley, and from further up the River Dee at Invercauld Bridge the plateau of the White Mounth appears far above the pinewoods of Ballochbuie Forest. The south-west corner of the Mounth plateau reaches the Cairnwell Pass, and from the A93 road across this pass the western hills of this area rise in a long line - Creag Leacach, Glas Maol, Cairn of Claise and Carn an Tuirc. All very accessible from the road. To their north-east the plateau stretches far towards Lochnagar; Tolmount, Tom Buidhe, Cairn Bannoch and Carn an t-Sagairt Mor being high points on this undulating expanse of tundra. Broad Cairn is a more prominent mountain with the great cliffs of Creag an Dubh-loch above the head of Loch Muick. Near the north edge of the Mounth, Carn a' Choire Bhoidheach, sometimes referred to as the White Mounth, is another high undulation, but just to its north the plateau ends abruptly at the steep cliffs above Loch nan Eun.

A few kilometres further east stands Lochnagar, the finest peak of the Mounth, and one of the finest in Scotland. Although from the south-west it appears to rise only slightly above the level of the plateau, from the north and east its true height and character are well seen, the mountain forming a great cirque of cliffs above the corrie which holds the loch of the same name.

Mount Keen is an outlier of the Munros, rising far to the east of Lochnagar in an area of lower hills and high moorland, and on the southern edge of the Mounth, Driesh and Mayar stand between Glen Clova and Glen Prosen.

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