The River Avon (locally “Aan” /ɑːn/) is a river in the

Strathspey Strathspey may refer to one of the following: * Strathspey, Scotland, an area in the Highlands of Scotland * Strathspey Camanachd Strathspey Camanachd is a shinty club based in Grantown-on-Spey, Strathspey, Scotland, currently competing in the ...

area of the Scottish Highlands, and a tributary of the River Spey. It drains the north-eastern area of the

Cairngorm Mountains The Cairngorms ( gd, Am Monadh Ruadh) are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national park (the Cairngorms National Park) on 1 ...

and is largely contained within the

Cairngorms National Park Cairngorms National Park ( gd, Pàirc Nàiseanta a' Mhonaidh Ruaidh) is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Tro ...

The source of the River Avon is conventionally said to be Loch Avon situated between Cairn Gorm and Ben Macdui (

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

: ''Beinn MacDhuibh'').Royal Scottish Geographical Society, (2006), ''Scotland: an encyclopedia of places & landscapes'', page 39 Loch Avon itself collects headwaters from a number of burns on these two mountains. From Loch Avon, the river then continues east down

Glen Avon Glen Avon is a neighborhood and former census-designated place (CDP) in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 20,199 at the 2010 census, up from 14,853 at the 2000 census. On July 1, 2011, the CDP became part of the newly ...

to the north of

Ben Avon Ben Avon ( gd, Beinn Athfhinn, 'mountain of the Avon') is a mountain in the Cairngorms of Scotland. It is a sprawling mountain with a broad summit plateau dotted with granite tors. One of these marks the summit, called ''Leabaidh an Daimh Bhuid ...

, for 10 miles before turning north towards the village of Tomintoul and Strath Avon. There is a River Avon Fishing Association that promotes tourism in nearby towns and fishing along the river.

Tributaries

Over the first few miles flowing east through the Forest of Glenavon the Avon gathers to itself numerous small burns, the most notable of which are the Burn of Loin and the Builg Burn originating at Loch Builg. The latter flows down Glen Builg to enter the Avon on its right bank just downstream of the Linn of Avon. A mile to the southwest of Tomintoul, the Water of Ailnack enters from the confines of a precipitous gorge - the higher reaches of this watercourse are known as the Water of Caiplich. Downstream of Tomintoul, the Conglass Water originating at the Lecht, enters from the east and the Burn of Lochy enters from Glen Lochy to the west. Above Bridge of Brown, the Lochy is fed in turn by the Burn of Brown. The lowermost tributary of the Avon is the River Livet which enters from Glenlivet on the right bank at Drumin just as the Avon leaves the national park.

Etymology

In common with the various other examples of Avon, the river takes its name from the

''abhainn'' meaning 'river' or 'stream'. The word, in common with the Welsh ''afon'', is thought to originate from an early Indo-European root ''ab'' or ''aub''.Ross, D. 2001 ''Scottish Place-names'' Birlinn, Edinburgh

References

{{authority control Avon, Strathspey 1Avon