Location Guide: Loch Morlich
If you want some fantastic landscape photographs then you should definitely come to the Cairngorm National Park in Scotland. It is the largest National Park in the United Kingdom.
It has a massively varied environment with Pine Forests, Heather Moors, Upland Mountains, and more. The best way to visit from afar is to fly into Inverness, it’s about a 45 minute drive from Inverness to the heart of the Cairngorm National Park.
On the other hand, the drive from Edinburgh through the Highlands is also an amazing experience, if a bit long at about 3 hours.
Loch Morlich is a lake just outside of Aviemore, one of the best places to stay when you want to explore the Cairngorm Region.
I have many photos taken on the shores of this Loch as you can get some great views of the mountain range to the south.
There are many locations to explore within a short drive of Aviemore, including the mountain that gives its name to the National Park: Cairngorm.
Aviemore is about 45 minutes from Inverness Airport, with many facilities available to make your stay there easy and great for photography!
This is a Map of my 3 favourite locations at Loch Morlich
Location 1
The first location on the map is the first place you would come to if you were driving from Aviemore up to the Cairngorm Mountain.
As you are driving along the road on the right hand side is a bridge, where you can park just off of the road for free.
Once you are out of the car take a short walk across the bridge and follow the path.
At some point come off of the path to the left and walk through the woodlands to reach the shores of the Loch.
This can be quite boggy, so take care and bring wellies if you can.
If you are planning on visiting in the winter, then you may find the boggy shore and Loch frozen, so no worries about wet feet!
This location is a great place to get a sunrise image in the early hours of the morning. As you are looking to the east, the sun produces some amazing colours over the mountain.
Location 2
The second location is really easy to find, as it is sign posted to a car park right on the beach!
If you continue along the road from the first location you will find this easily.
You do have to pay for parking at this point but it’s usually quite cheap and the ticket lasts all day in all of the car parks in the Glenmore area.
This means you can pay at one location, continue to drive up the mountain and explore other areas using the same parking ticket.
For this location the car park is literally on the beach, so you can just get out of your car and explore the beach.
In the water just in front of you are these groups of rocks, which can make a great foreground subject.
As you are looking south, you have the full Cairngorm mountain range right in front of you.
This makes Location 2 a fantastic place to be at any time of day or night. You can also shoot sunrise and sunset from this location, as there are many different viewpoints and crops that you can find.
Location 3
The final location is also really easy to find! From Location 2 continue up the mountain road and you will eventually see sign posts to ‘the Beach’ and Loch Morlich Watersports.
There is another paid car park here, but your ticket from before can be used there as well.
From the car park head to the Loch and you will find a large sandy beach, on which is a cafe and water sports rental shop.
There is also a camping and caravan area if you want to stay on the Loch, but nearby is a Youth Hostel if you want a solid roof.
From the beach you look westward, so you can get some amazing sunset images across the Loch.
There are some great views of the mountain range to the south as well.
Explore around the beach and you might be surprised at what you can find.
Conclusion
You should definitely come to the Cairngorm National Park. It is one of the most beautiful areas of Scotland. With grand mountain ranges, lochs, forests, moors, and more waiting to be explored.
Loch Morlich is one of my favourite locations for landscape photography. It has great accessibility, as you don’t need to hike for miles into the mountains.
It is incredibly versatile, offering amazing images at any time of day. And it is different everyday, due to the ever changing weather of Scotland.
Go look through my 2 galleries concerned with Scotland:
Scotland Over the Years - which has images from various holidays to the Cairngorm Region
Scotland Landscapes and Scotland Wildlife as I am currently living in Aviemore, I am working on exploring Scotland in more depth
I also offer a guided landscape photography experience during which Loch Morlich will more than likely be included, check it out!
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Written by Daniel Long
Daniel Long created DRL Photography as a place to showcase his work as a photographer. Daniel has learnt a lot about photography and wishes to impart this knowledge with you, although the world is an ever changing place and he always says “you can never learn everything.” So as he makes his way, he continues to learn knew techniques, skills and information about photography. He focuses on Landscape and Wildlife photography and Daniel has a special focus on Scotland, his home away from home. As well as writing about photography and taking pictures out in the field, Daniel offers guided photography days so he can share his knowledge and locations in an effort to give his clients the best opportunities possible. Have a browse around this website to see his images, guided experiences and articles about photography. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in contact.
