no proper ridges. The four Munros are all on the Spey rim, three making a classic circuit from Newtonmore; the interior is rarely visited. The main valley within the Monadh Liath is the Findhorn. It is unusually sinuous, being an incised meandering river valley very little altered by glaciers.

The landscape of the Monadh Liath is one of the most ancient in Britain, its essentials as a secondary massif flanking the Cairngorms having evolved continuously since the Caledonian Mountains were created