Morrone is a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 hill immediately southwest of the village of Braemar

Braemar

Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee sitting at an altitude of ....

 in Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...

.

Geography and topography

The hill reaches a height of 859 metres (2818 feet) and qualifies as a Corbett and a Marilyn

Marilyn (hill)

A Marilyn is a mountain or hill in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland or Isle of Man with a relative height of at least 150 metres , regardless of absolute height or other merit...

, although with a topographic prominence of 155 metres, it only just meets the prominence criterion for these categories. Morrone very much belongs to the village of Braemar from which it is usually climbed, and with a starting altitude of 330 metres, it is an easy ascent and a unique one, being the only significant mountain climb in Scotland to start from the centre of a village. Morrone is used for the Braemar Gathering

Highland games

Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &(-è_çà in Scotland and other countries as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain...

 hill race every September, and is a popular venue for paragliding

Paragliding

Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure...

 and hang-gliding. The hill is occasionally referred to as Morven and it is given both names on Ordnance Survey maps, although Hamish Brown

Hamish Brown

Hamish Brown M.B.E. is a professional writer, lecturer and photographer specialising in mountain and outdoor topics. He is best known for his walking exploits in the Scottish Highlands, having completed multiple rounds of the Munros and being the first person to walk all the Munros in a single trip...

 says I’ve never heard it called Morven. In point of fact, the pronunciation of Morrone does not correspond closely with the pronunciation of Mór Shròn, and the derivation of Morrone is a complex question. Watson and Allan come down on the side of Mór Bheinn. Morrone is not to be confused with Morven

Morven, Caithness

Morven is a mountain in Caithness, in the Highland Region of Scotland. The hill is classed as a Graham and, at 706 metres, its summit is the highest point in the county of Caithness....

, the highest point in Caithness

Caithness

Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...

, or with the local Morven

Morven, Aberdeenshire

Morven is a Corbett in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is 871 m high.-External links:...

, a mere 29 km (18 mi) to the northeast.

Morrone has a prominent profile, dominating the village of Braemar, and lives up to its name, which translates as Big Hill or Big Nose, but the hill is otherwise undistinguished, having few topographical highlights. It has a long south ridge, continuing from its summit over undulating ground to link with the Munro of An Socach nine kilometres to the south. Its eastern flanks are drained by the Coldrach Burn and the Allt Coire na Sgreuchaig, both flowing into the Clunie Water to join the River Dee

River Dee, Aberdeenshire

The River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through Strathdee to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen...

 just north of Braemar. The northern and western slopes are drained by a series of streams running directly into the Dee as it passes to the north of the hill. Morrone has three named but unexceptional corrie

Cirque

Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...

s on its slopes, the Coire Allt a' Chlair to the west of the summit, the Coire nam Muc to the north and the Coire na Sgreuchaig on the north eastern slopes.

Morrone Birkwood

The hill's lower northern slopes are the site of the Morrone Birkwood Special Area of Conservation

Special Area of Conservation

A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive , also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora...

, managed by Scottish Natural Heritage

Scottish Natural Heritage

Scottish Natural Heritage is a Scottish public body. It is responsible for Scotland's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government and acts as a government agent in the delivery of conservation designations, i.e...

. Floristically unaltered since the end of the last ice age, it is the sole surviving example in Britain of a sub-alpine birch

Birch

Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

-juniper

Juniper

Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...

 wood on basic soils. It is also the most extensive and diverse example of a transition between woodland and juniper scrub in the UK. Some of the stands of juniper are the largest and most diverse in Scotland, and it has an extensive range of rare flora such as twinflower

Twinflower

Linnaea is a plant genus in the family Caprifoliaceae . The genus includes a single, generally boreal to subarctic woodland subshrub species, Linnaea borealis, commonly known as Twinflower .This plant was a favorite of Carl Linnaeus, founder of the modern system of biological nomenclature, for...

, interrupted club moss

Lycopodium

Lycopodium is a genus of clubmosses, also known as ground pines or creeping cedar, in the family Lycopodiaceae, a family of fern-allies...

 and globeflower

Trollius

Trollius is a genus of about 30 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae, closely related to Ranunculus. The common name is globeflower or globe flower...

. There are tufa-forming springs on the site, and it is the habitat of the endangered Geyer’s whorl snail. In the past the wood has been subject to high levels of grazing by deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, but since its declaration as a conservation area, the wood has been fenced to exclude deer and some natural regeneration has taken place.

Ascents and view

Morrone is usually climbed from the village of Braemar. From the centre of the village, Chapel Brae is followed to the car park by the duck pond. From here a track goes south through the woods to reach a viewpoint with a plaque identifying the surrounding mountains. The main track swings right to the Birkwood, but the route is to the left for a hundred metres, and then takes a footpath on the right up the open hillside. It is then a two kilometre climb south west to the summit.

Nearing the summit, one has a bird's-eye view of Braemar. The top of the hill is adorned with a radio mast and buildings dating from 1969, part of a University of Aberdeen

University of Aberdeen

The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...

 research station. Braemar mountain rescue team also has a radio relay station on the summit. At the highest point there is a trig point

Trig point

A triangulation station, also known as a triangulation pillar, trigonometrical station, trigonometrical point, trig station, trig beacon or trig point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity...

 and a large cairn

Cairn

Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...

.
The view is extensive, with an all-round mountain panorama from the Cairngorms

Cairngorms

The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain of the same name - Cairn Gorm.-Name:...

 to Lochnagar

Lochnagar

Lochnagar or Beinn Chìochan is a mountain in the Grampians of Scotland, located about five miles south of the River Dee near Balmoral.-Names:...

 and the Glenshee Ski Centre

Glenshee Ski Centre

Glenshee Ski Centre is the largest ski resort in Scotland and is sometimes referred to as the Scottish three valleys. It is located in Aberdeenshire and to the north of Spittal of Glenshee, on the A93 road between Blairgowrie and Braemar in the southern Highlands of Scotland...

. The descent from the mountain can be varied by following the vehicle track serving the summit structures, which runs south and then east to end on the old military road in Glen Clunie, from where it is a short walk back to Braemar.