Glen
Glen Clova
The finest of the Angus Glens — quieter Munros, better skies, and a hotel at the end of the road that has been serving hillwalkers since the Victorian era.
- Munros
- 4
- Corbetts
- 1
- Grahams
- 1
- Bothies
- 2
- Highest peak
- Broad Cairn (997.1m)
Glen Clova is the most accessible and most varied of the Angus Glens — a steep-sided valley running north into the eastern Cairngorms on the B955 from Kirriemuir. The Munros here (Mayar, Driesh, and via Jock's Road — Broad Cairn and Lochnagar) see a fraction of the traffic that Munros of equivalent quality attract in the west Highlands. The eastern character of the Cairngorms — drier, more continental, grouse moor on the plateau — gives Clova a different quality from the rockier west Highland glens.
The Glen Clova Hotel at the road end is both a walkers' hotel and a car park; it functions as the operational base for most walks in the glen and has accommodation ranging from bunkhouse to en-suite rooms. Loch Brandy, accessible on a half-day walk from the hotel, is one of the more atmospheric corrie lochs in the eastern Highlands.
The road in
Parking1 spot
Glen Clova Hotel car park
30 cars
Free
Hotel guests only for overnight; day walkers tolerated. National Trust car park nearby.
Hills from Glen Clova4 Munros · 1 Corbetts · 1 Grahams
Bothies in the glen2 in range
What's in the glen
Loch Brandy
A corrie lochan above Glen Clova, accessible on a half-day walk from the hotel. Loch Brandy sits in a dramatic bowl beneath Craig of Gowal and is one of the more atmospheric corrie lochs in the eastern Cairngorms. The circuit from the hotel and back is about 9km with 450m ascent.
Corrie Fee
Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve protects one of the finest assemblages of upland arctic-alpine flora in Scotland. The corrie is accessible by a marked path from Glen Doll car park. The protected plants include mountain avens, purple saxifrage and several rare mosses and lichens.
Our take
Glen Clova is genuinely undervisited. If you want two good Munros on a quiet Saturday in August without the Glencoe circus, drive to Clova instead. Mayar and Driesh from the hotel is a classic circuit and you will have the ridge largely to yourself even in peak season.
History
The Angus Glens have been walked by outsiders since the Victorian era, when the fashion for Highland scenery brought shooting parties, artists and early hillwalkers to Deeside and its southern tributaries. Glen Clova was documented by the artist Joseph Farquharson in the 1880s; his paintings of Angus winter scenes did much to establish the glen's visual identity.
The Glen Clova Hotel has operated continuously as a walkers' and shooting lodge hotel since the Victorian period. It is one of the few working examples of the Victorian mountain hotel tradition that survives in the Angus Glens.
Practical
- Mobile signal
- Patchy signal in the lower glen. None on the high plateau.
- Midges
- Low–moderate(2/5)
- Public transport
- Stagecoach bus to Kirriemuir from Dundee. Infrequent local service to Glen Clova — car strongly recommended.
- Dogs
- On lead — livestock or ground-nesting birds present.
Map
Hills (green), bothies (brown), parking (blue), wild swimming (light blue), landmarks (dark red).
Scotland outdoor updates
Route guides, condition reports and seasonal picks — once a month, no noise.
Glen Clova — common questions
- What kind of road runs through Glen Clova?
- B_road. Build in extra time for the approach.
- Can I take a motorhome or campervan into Glen Clova?
- Glen Clova works for motorhomes and campervans. Just take the single-track stretches steadily and use the passing places so local traffic can get past.
- Are there midges in Glen Clova?
- Expect a moderate midge season in Glen Clova (2/5), running late May to September. The worst of it comes on sheltered, humid evenings — breezy spots and the high tops stay clearer. Smidge and a head net earn their place from May onwards.
- Can I wild camp in Glen Clova?
- You can. Scotland's Land Reform Act 2003 gives a right to wild camp on most unenclosed land, subject to the Scottish Outdoor Access Code: stay off enclosed agricultural ground, keep numbers small, leave no trace. Note the Loch Lomond and Trossachs Camping Management Zones and their seasonal restrictions do not cover Glen Clova.
- Can I get to Glen Clova without a car?
- Stagecoach bus to Kirriemuir from Dundee. Infrequent local service to Glen Clova — car strongly recommended.