Nature
Newtonmore lies in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park, Britain’s largest National Park, important for its unique mountain scenery and wildlife. Most of our guests put wildlife as one of the things they enjoy the most about their stay. Our cottages lend themselves to this with their location at the foot of the Monadhliath mountains, with birds such as lapwings, oystercatchers, buzzards and curlews visible from the grounds, as well as deer and hares.
A Reindeer herd was introduced to the area in the 1950s and they now roam over the Cairngorm Plateau. You can visit them from the Reindeer centre at Rothiemurchus. The area is mountainous: four of Scotland’s 5 highest mountains are within the Park, and there are 55 summits over 900m. The high plateau provides a home to alpine flora. Heather moorland covers much of the National Park. Elsewhere are remnants of Caledonian pine forest.
The National Park is home to a wide variety of animals such as pine martens, red squirrels, badgers, wildcats, water vole, and otters. You can see some of them at the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig, https://www.highlandwildlifepark.org.uk/. This park also has endangered animals from tundra areas worldwide such as Amur tigers. Another good place to see wildlife is the Rothiemurchus badger hide. Birds indigenous to the area include ospreys, the symbol of the park, golden eagles, the Scottish crossbill, capercaillie, goldeneye and crested tit. Good birding locations include Insh marshes and the RSPB Loch Garten Osprey centre. Butterflies and dragonflies are also well represented.
We are also only a one-hour drive from the Moray coast with the chance to see dolphins and whales.