Ladder Hills

The Ladder Hills (Gaelic: Monadh an Fharaidh) are a range of hills in northeast Scotland which straddle the border between Aberdeenshire and Moray and form a part of the Grampian Mountains. The highest point of the range is Càrn Mòr (English: big cairn) at 804 metres (2,638 ft) which is classed as a Corbett; other named tops include Monadh an t-Sluich Leith (800m), Carn Liath (792m), Dun Muir (754m) and Little Geal Charn (742m).

The hills are formed for the most part from late Precambrian age metamorphosed sandstones and mudstones; quartzites, psammites, pelites and semipelites which together form the Ladder Hills and Kymah Quartzite formations. These are placed within the Islay Subgroup of the Argyll Group, itself a division of the late Dalradian Supergroup. Parts of the range are formed from carbonate rich rocks. Metadolerite dykes intrude this sequence in places. The rock strata are intensely folded and typically dip steeply to the southeast or northwest.[1]

The Ladder after which the range is named is a high pass used by a path climbing beside the Ladder Burn from the Braes of Glenlivet then southeast down to Duffdefiance at the head of Glen Nochty near Strathdon. Carn Mor is accessed by walkers from both of these localities as well as the Bridge of Leachd on the A939 road to the southwest.[2]

The Ladder Hills lie within the north-eastern part of the Cairngorms National Park whilst an area of 4353.61 hectares of the hills are designated as a special area of conservation for its Alpine and Boreal heath and active blanket bog[3] in addition to enjoying status as a site of special scientific interest. Wildlife includes golden plover, dunlin, dotterel and ravens.[4]

References
  1. http://www.largeimages.bgs.ac.uk/iip/mapsportal.html?id=1002447
  2. Johnstone, Scott; Brown, Hamish; Bennet, Donald (editors). The Corbetts and other Scottish Hills (First ed.). Scottish Mountaineering Club. pp. 106–107. ISBN 0-907521-29-0.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. https://sac.jncc.gov.uk/site/UK0030179
  4. https://glenlivet-wildlife.co.uk/ladderhills.php

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