The River Dee () is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It rises in the

Cairngorms The Cairngorms () are a mountain range in the eastern Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national parks of Scotland, national park (the Cairn ...

and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in the region between

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 elevation of . The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' p ...

and

Banchory Banchory (, , ) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, historically in Kincardineshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee. Prehistory and archaeology In 2009, a farmer discovered a short ...

because

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

came for a visit there in 1848 and greatly enjoyed herself. She and her husband, Prince Albert, built

Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought ...

there which replaced an older castle. Deeside is a popular area for tourists, due to the combination of its scenery and historic royal associations. It is part of the

Cairngorms National Park Cairngorms National Park () is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of National parks of Scotland, two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National ...

, and the Deeside and Lochnagar National Scenic Area. The Dee is popular with anglers and is one of the most famous

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

fishing rivers in the world. The

New Statistical Account of Scotland The ''Statistical Accounts of Scotland'' are a series of documentary publications, related in subject matter though published at different times, covering life in Scotland in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The ''Old (or First) Statistica ...

attributed the name Dee as having been used as early as the second century AD in the work of the

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

Claudius

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

, as ''Δηοῦα'' (=Deva), meaning 'goddess'. This indicated the river had divine status in the beliefs of the ancient inhabitants of the area. The Gaelic name Uisge Dhè literally means 'Water of God'. There are several other rivers with the

same name ''Same Name'' is an American reality television series in which an average person swaps lives with a celebrity of the same first and last name. It premiered on July 24, 2011 on CBS. The series received low ratings, and CBS pulled it after four-ep ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, and they are believed to have similar derivations, as may the Dee's near neighbour to the north which is the River Don.

Geography

Upper reaches

The River Dee rises from a spring on the

Braeriach Braeriach or Brae Riach (, 'the brindled upland') is the third-highest mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui, rising above sea level. It is in the Scottish Highlands and is the highest point in t ...

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

in the

Cairngorm Mountains The Cairngorms () 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 September 2003. Althou ...

at a height of at about 1,220 m, the highest source of any major river in the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

. Emerging in a number of pools called the Wells of Dee the young Dee then flows across the plateau to the cliff edge from where the

Falls of Dee Falls of Dee is a waterfall on Braeriach in the Cairngorms, Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of ...

plunge into An Garbh Choire ("burn of the rough corrie").

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

Landranger 1:50000, Sheet 43 The river is then joined by a tributary coming from the Pools of Dee in the

Lairig Ghru The Lairig Ghru () is one of the mountain passes through the Cairngorms of Scotland. The route and mountain pass partially lies on the Mar Lodge Estate. Like many traditional routes, the ends of the route through the Lairig Ghru are like the e ...

, and flows south down the Lairig Ghru between

Ben Macdui Ben Macdui (, meaning "MacDuff's mountain") is the second-highest Mountains and hills of Scotland, mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis, and the highest of the Cairngorm Mountains. The summit is above sea level an ...

and

Cairn Toul Cairn Toul (, 'hill of the barn') is the 4th-highest mountain in Scotland and all of the British Isles, after Ben Nevis, Ben Macdui and Braeriach. The summit is 1,291 metres (4,236 feet) above sea level. It is in the western massif of the Cair ...

, tumbling over falls in the Chest of Dee on its way to White Bridge and the confluence with the Geldie Burn, at which point it turns east.

Linn of Dee

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Carl Linnaeus, abbreviated as Linn. * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Place ...

of Dee the river passes east through a 300-metre natural rock

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

, a spot much favoured by

during her stays at Balmoral. The queen opened the bridge which spans the Dee at this point in 1857. Between Linn of Dee and

the

Lui Water ''Lui'' (; ) is a French adult-entertainment magazine created in November 1963 by Daniel Filipacchi, a fashion photographer turned publisher, Jacques Lanzmann, a jack of all trades turned novelist, and Frank Ténot, a press agent, pataphysici ...

(formed by the Luibeg and Derry burns) and the

Quoich Water The River Quoich is a tributary of the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, River Dee in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It flows in a generally southerly direction and is about 15 km long (including its upper reaches, known as Quoich Water, above the confl ...

join the growing River Dee. The River Clunie enters the Dee at Braemar. Evidence of human activity stretching as far back as BC has been found at a complex of sites stretching along the banks of the Dee.

Strathdee

Through Deeside the river passes

Ballater Ballater (, ) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, immediately east of the Cairngorm Mountains. Situated at an elevation of , Ballater is a centre for hikers and known for its spring water, once said to cure scrofula. ...

Dinnet Dinnet (Scottish Gaelic, ''Dùnaidh'') is a village in the Marr area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Approximately equidistant from Deeside towns Aboyne and Ballater and situated on the main A93 road in the valley of the River Dee, it is said to ...

Aboyne Aboyne (, ) is a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, River Dee, approximately west of Aberdeen. It has a swimming pool at Aboyne Academy, all-weather tennis cou ...

, and

reaching the sea at

. Near

two rivers are tributaries: the River Gairn flowing from the north and the River Muick which flows out of

Loch Muick Loch Muick (; Gaelic: Uisge Muice ()) is an upland, freshwater loch lying approximately south of Braemar, Scotland at the head of Glen Muick and within the boundary of the Balmoral estate. Geography Loch Muick trends in a southwest and northea ...

, from the south. The river is within the

until it reaches Dinnet. The Water of Tanar flows through Glen Tanar before joining at

. The

Water of Feugh The Water of Feugh ( or ) is a stream in Aberdeenshire that is the largest tributary to the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, River Dee. This stream rises in the Grampian Mountains of Scotland, in an area known as the Forest of Birse, and has a partic ...

has its confluence with the Dee near the Falls of Feugh at Banchory and Coy Burn enters at

Milton of Crathes Milton of Crathes is a complex of restored 17th-century stone buildings,United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map Landranger 45, Stonehaven and Banchory, 1:50,000 scale, 2004 associated with, and previously an outlier of, Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshir ...

Landranger 1:50000, Sheet 44 The tidal limit is just above

Bridge of Dee The Bridge of Dee or Brig o Dee is a road bridge over the River Dee in Aberdeen, Scotland. The term is also used for the surrounding area of the city. Dating from 1527,Richards, J.M., ''The National Trust Book of Bridges'', Jonathan Cape, 198 ...

which was built about 1720; it carries the main A90 trunk road from Aberdeen to the south. Before reaching the North Sea, the river passes through

Aberdeen Harbour Aberdeen Harbour, rebranded as the Port of Aberdeen in 2022, is a sea port located in the city of Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland. The port was first established in 1136 and has been continually redeveloped over the centuries to provide ...

, the principal marine centre for the energy industry in Europe, servicing the offshore oil and gas industry. An artificial channel was constructed in 1872 to straighten the river's flow into the sea.

Footdee Footdee (), locally known as Fittie, is a picturesque area of Aberdeen, Scotland. A former fishing village, it lies at the entrance to Aberdeen Harbour Aberdeen Harbour, rebranded as the Port of Aberdeen in 2022, is a sea port located in ...

("Fittie") is an old fishing village at the east end of Aberdeen Harbour.

Nature and conservation

The Dee is important for nature conservation and the area has many designated sites. The upper catchment down to Inverey is within the

Mar Lodge Estate Mar Lodge Estate is a highland estate in western Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which has been owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) since 1995. Its principal building, Mar Lodge, is about west of the village of Braemar. The esta ...

, which is owned by the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

and has been classified as a national nature reserve since May 2017. The

which was established in 2003 covers the whole of the catchment of the Dee, including the tributaries, down to as far as Dinnet. As well as being included as part of the

, the Deeside area along with the mountains surrounding

Lochnagar Lochnagar or is a mountain in the Mounth, in the Grampian Mountains, Grampians of Scotland. It is about south of the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, River Dee near Balmoral Castle, Balmoral. It is a popular hill with hillwalking, hillwalkers, and i ...

as far south as the head of

Glen Doll Glen Doll, also sometimes spelt Glendoll, lies within the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland, at the top of Glen Clova, in an area of steep hills, Cirque, corries and Munros. It includes the Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve, which has many endan ...

is classified as the ''Deeside and Lochnagar National Scenic Area''. It is one of 40 areas in Scotland designated as a scenic area. The ''Deeside and Lochnagar National Scenic Area'' covers 40,000 ha, extending from the Geldie down to

. The entire length of the Dee is defined as a

Special Area of Conservation A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

(SAC) due to its importance to

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

s and

freshwater pearl mussel The freshwater pearl mussel (''Margaritifera margaritifera'') is an endangered species of freshwater mussel, an Aquatic animal, aquatic bivalve mollusc in the family Margaritiferidae. Although the name "freshwater pearl mussel" is often used fo ...

s. Other SACs within the Deeside area include Glen Tanar, the Muir of Dinnet, Ballochbuie, and the Morrone Birkwood. The southern side of Deeside is classified as a

Special Protection Area A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cer ...

, due to the area's importance to

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

s. Much of the semi-natural Caledonian pine forest in Scotland is within the Dee catchment. The area contains nationally rare examples of pine woods, birch woods and heather moors with associated wildlife. On the valley floor there are deciduous

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

and mixed broadleaved woods as well as meadow grasslands. The Dee is a popular

river and has a succession of varied pools which are intersected by sharp

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

. In 1995 it was estimated that salmon fishing on the river contributed between £5 and £6 million a year to the Grampian Region economy. In 2020 it was estimated that salmon fishing contributed £15 million a year to the local economy and the River Dee reporting 10% of Scottish salmon catches. The River Dee operates a

catch and release Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing where after capture the fish is Fish hook, unhooked and returned live to the water. Originally adopted in the United Kingdom by Coarse fishing, coarse fishermen to Overfishing, preser ...

practise and all salmon which are caught must be released back to the river.

Transport on Deeside

The

A93 road The A93 is a major road in Scotland and the highest public road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from Perth, Scotland, Perth through Blairgowrie and Rattray, then through the Grampian Mountains (Scotland), Grampian Mountains by way of Glen ...

runs west along the north bank of the river from Aberdeen to Braemar before it turns south, leaving Deeside, to climb to the

Glenshee Ski Centre Glenshee Ski Centre is an alpine snowsports area in the Scottish Highlands. It is located above the Cairnwell Pass at the head of Glen Shee on either side of the A93 road between Blairgowrie and Braemar. Glenshee is Britain's largest alpine ...

Cairnwell Pass The Cairnwell Pass is a mountain pass on the A93 road between Glen Shee, Perthshire, and Braemar, Aberdeenshire, in the Scottish Highlands. The border between the two counties crosses the summit of the pass. With a summit altitude of , the Cairn ...

and then onwards to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Just west of Ballater the

A939 The A939 is a road in Scotland, connecting the A96 at Nairn on the Moray coast with the A95 Grantown-on-Spey. It then continues to the A93 at Ballater by way of the Grampian Mountains, passing Tomintoul and the Lecht Ski Centre. This road p ...

Lecht Road leaves the A93 to take a tortuous climb towards the

Lecht Ski Centre The Lecht Ski Centre is an alpine ski area in the Cairngorms in the Scottish Highlands. The ski slopes are set around the mountains Beinn a' Chruinnich, 2,552 ft (778 m) and Meikle Corr Riabhach, 2556 ft (779 m). The Lecht is the smal ...

then on to

Tomintoul Tomintoul (; from , meaning "Hillock of the Barn") is a village in the Moray council area of Scotland in the historic county of Banffshire. Within Cairngorms National Park, the village lies close to the banks of the River Avon and is said by s ...

and eventually

Nairn Nairn (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland (council area), Highland Council council areas of Scotland, area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nair ...

. Beyond Braemar a narrow road continues along the south side of the Dee as far as Linn of Dee, at which point it doubles back to terminate at Linn of Quioch on the north bank of the Dee. There are no paved roads into the Cairngorms beyond Linn of Dee, although two walking routes, the

and the Lairig an Laoigh, continue via passes in the mountains to reach Speyside. Until 1966 the

Deeside Railway The Deeside Railway was a passenger and goods railway between Aberdeen and Ballater in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Opening in 1853 to Banchory, an extension reached Aboyne in 1859. A separate company, the Aboyne & Braemar Railway, built an extensi ...

ran from Aberdeen to Ballater, operated by the

Great North of Scotland Railway The Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) was one of the two smallest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping, operating in the north-east of the country. Formed in 1845, it carried its first passengers the fro ...

. The line opened from Aberdeen to

in 1853, was extended to

in 1859, and a further extension to Ballater was opened in 1866. The line was not extended beyond Ballater to Braemar as this would require it to run close to Balmoral, leading to objections from Queen Victoria. The Royal Family used Ballater Station when visiting Balmoral. After the line closed, the station was converted into a rail museum. It was destroyed by fire in 2015 and has since been restored, now providing a tourist information centre, restaurant, tearoom and public library. A very short section of the line near

has been restored as a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

, named the

Royal Deeside Railway The Royal Deeside Railway is a Scottish heritage railway located at Milton of Crathes railway station on a part of the original Deeside Railway. Original railway Originally constructed between 1853 and 1866, the Deeside Railway ran between ...

Royal Deeside

Since the reign of

the

British Royal Family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

have spent their summers at

. Each year they attend the Braemar Highland Gathering and other local events.

Birkhall Birkhall (from the Scots ''Birk Hauch'': "Birch River-meadow") is a estate on Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, owned by King Charles III. It is located alongside the River Muick to the south-west of Ballater. History The property w ...

which was previously owned by

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

, is now a favourite retreat of

King Charles King Charles may refer to: Kings A number of kings of Albania, Alençon, Anjou, Austria, Bohemia, Croatia, England, France, Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Ireland, Jerusalem, Naples, Navarre, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Sardinia, Scotland, Sicily, S ...

. Due to these royal connections, the area around Braemar and Ballater is sometimes referred to "Royal Deeside", and this usage has been encouraged by the tourist trade.

Gallery

File:Wells of Dee.jpg, Wells of Dee on

. File:Cairn Toul and Ben Macdui.jpg,

. File:3rd Aug 2012- Abdn Harbour 2.JPG, Aberdeen Harbour, at the estuary of the River Dee. File:River Dee near Braemar, Aberdeenshire.jpg, The River Clunie near Braemar. File:River Dee at Peterculter, facing East.jpg, The River Dee at Peterculter, facing downstream. File:BalmoralCastle1900.jpg, Balmoral Castle in Royal Deeside (

photochrom Photochrom, Fotochrom, Photochrome or the Aäc process is a process of hand-colouring of photographs, hand-colouring photographs from a single black-and-white photographic negative, negative with subsequent photographic transfer onto Lithography, ...

from about 1900). File:The River Dee looking ESE - geograph.org.uk - 6899.jpg, The River Dee File:River Dee at Banchory.jpg, The Dee at Banchory File:Dee River (Scotland) Route.png, The Dee on a map of Scotland File:River Dee. - geograph.org.uk - 82939.jpg, The Dee in winter

References

External links

River Dee Trust & Dee District Salmon Fishery BoardBanchory.org
— Banchory & District Initiatives Ltd website {{authority control National scenic areas of Scotland Ramsar sites in Scotland

Dee Dee or DEE may refer to: People Surname * Dee, an alternate spelling of the Welsh surname Day * Dee, a romanization of several Chinese surnames, including: ** Those listed at Di (surname) ** Some Hokkien pronunciations of the surname Li () ...

Places and place names on Mar Lodge Estate