For many locals, Corrie Fee is the nearest place to experience the true drama of the mountains.
Just over an hour’s drive from Dundee is the Glen Doll Car Park, also the Angus Glens Ranger Base, from where a 30-minute forest stroll through the Fee Trail gives way to a wild amphitheatre of rocky landscape sculpted by the power of ice and water.
Corrie Fee is a massive bowl scooped out from the rugged mountainsides by a glacier during the Ice Age which left behind corries, cliffs, moraines and a meandering river.
The Cairngorms landmark is also a National Nature Reserve due to its rare plants and wildlife, including alpine flowers, mountain willows, golden eagles and peregrines.
This geographic marvel is accessible for inexperienced walkers while also being the passport to Mayar and Driesh – two of Angus’s three Munros.
The Angus Glens Ranger Base also contains picnic benches, public toilets, informative displays and a wide range of Cairngorms National Park leaflets.
Corrie Fee is an extraordinary slice of the outdoors that can be all things to all people.
‘It was 10 out of 10’
For Craig and Cameron Dalrymple the trip to Corrie Fee was as much about the father-son relationship as it was admiring the breathtaking scenery.
A cloudless sky encouraged computer engineer Craig, 49, to take former Madras College pupil Cameron, 18, out of St Andrews for an Angus adventure.
“It was 10 out of 10,” says Cameron, who is studying Computer Arts at Abertay University. “Not a lot of stuff comes close to this.
“Through childhood we have gone on forest walks, we have been up Ben Chonzie and I have been on school trips.
“For example, I went to Madrid with my school and visited old towns but here everything is natural. You can’t compare it to Scotland.
“My dad had similar experiences going away with his uncle and I appreciate dad going to these places and giving me similar experiences.
“As a kid I used to complain about going for a walk but now I really appreciate it.
“It is a great chance to bond with dad and going here is great for your mental health.
“I am very fortunate to have a good father-son relationship.”
‘It takes my breath away’
Alyth residents Shari Sidley and Claire Watson have been passing through Corrie Fee as they enjoy their new hobby of running up Munros.
Last July the pair sped up to the top of Mayar and Driesh for their first 3,000-feet running challenge.
This summer they repeated the trick – and again marvelled at Corrie Fee.
“It takes my breath away,” says Claire. “You go through the woods, then a short passageway and it opens up… it’s amazing and never fails to disappoint.
“The first time we went here Shari told me to turn around and have a look. We just gasped.”
‘It is a magical place’
Corrie Fee has a sentimental hold on Carnoustie man Robin Chalmers.
The 81-year-old estimates that he has been to Corrie Fee “thousands of times” after first visiting in his early 20s.
“Corrie Fee is unique in many ways because of the flora that grows and the waterfall at the far end that is like a horse’s tail,” he says.
“The view looking towards it is superb. It is a magical place really.
“It is a wonderful and happy place – even in the middle of the winter when it is icy and cold.”
The retired print worker was 23 when he first came to Corrie Fee.
“It was the very first hill walk I did on my own,” he says. “There’s a myriad of routes here, whether easy, hard or scary.”
A spiritual feel
Dundonian Fiona O’Neill reminisces about old times when she returns to “spiritual” Corrie Fee.
The 51-year-old accountant, who grew up in Seymour Street and Blackness Road, now lives in Edinburgh with husband Michael, also 51, and son Terrence, 14.
They took a trip to Corrie Fee while on holiday at Arbuthnott in the Mearns this summer.
“I remember coming up here when I was younger with my sister and one of my brothers and rolling our Easter eggs,” says Fiona, who met her future husband at university in Edinburgh. “It was a beautiful place and very different to the city.
“We could run free and were left to get on with it. Times were much more carefree then.
“Corrie Fee has a spiritual feel and gives a sense of freedom, of being in touch with nature. It is a lovely feeling to get away from it all.”
A geologist’s dream
For a geologist who has lived in Edzell since 1990, it is remarkable that it took Robert Paterson until this summer to visit Corrie Fee for the first time.
Robert, 65, now knows what he was missing out on after going on a trip with three other members of Edzell Church.
“Corrie Fee is a classic glacial valley,” he says. “All the rocks on the side have been shattered by the freezing and thawing of the water in the rocks and it creates an amazing-looking place.
“And right down the middle you’ve got a moraine coming down it as you’re walking along and it’s a classic area for a geologist and for folk to walk through. It’s beautiful.
“This is the first time I have been here as a geologist but it’s been a long time since I did geology.
“I’ll be back again because it’s a beautiful place. You don’t need to go abroad – just come here.”
“When you get to Corrie Fee you’re like ‘wow, this is right in front of you’, says fellow church member Ken Macindoe, 68.
‘It’s a great place for children’
Angela Twybble spends most of her working day outside but is still inspired to explore the likes of Corrie Fee on her days off.
Carmyllie resident Angela, 52, works as a countryside technician at AngusAlive. She is originally from Tiffin, Ohio and has lived in Scotland since 1992.
“I used to come up here yearly with my children as they were growing up and they still come back in their adulthood,” she says.
“It’s a great place for children. The walk to Corrie Fee is not as steep as other hills yet you still get a sense of the grandeur.
“Compared to other parts of Scotland this ranks pretty high.”
Place to tie the knot
Seeing a wedding take place at Corrie Fee came as no surprise to Perth man John Andrews.
John, 83, has visited the beauty spot four times and remembers stumbling across the ceremony on one of these occasions six years ago.
“They went up as far as they could and you could see all of them in their dresses,” he recalls. “It’s a great place and a lovely amphitheatre.
“I have rambled far and wide and here is one of the best places. The whole glen is spectacular and Corrie Fee is the icing on the cake.”
‘I need to go here more often’
Kate Ellam, 31, plans to return to Corrie Fee after visiting for the first time this summer.
Kate, who moved from Lincoln to Forfar in March, works for Guide Dogs for the Blind.
She took her Labrador Daphne, 3, to Corrie Fee and next time hopes to bring along Davina, 11.
“It’s amazing, I need to go here more often,” she says. “Daphne absolutely loved it and had great fun with all the fresh water.”
Like Colorado ‘but without the bears’
Marjorie Brewer says Corrie Fee reminds her of Colorado in her native United States.
Pilates teacher Marjorie, 27, joined pensions manager Andrew Johnston, 27, on a two-hour trip from their home in Edinburgh to scale Mayar via Corrie Fee.
“The highlight was jumping in the water and cooling off,” Marjorie says. “I am originally from Chicago and in this weather it feels like Colorado.
“With the smell of the pine it feels like being in America but without the bears!”
Andrew’s friend recommended the walk. “My friend said it was good but I didn’t know it would be on this scale. It’s breathtaking.”
Angus’s ‘Shire’
Care worker Elle Ferns, 25, likens Corrie Fee to The Shire in Lord of The Rings.
She visited the area with fellow Kirkcaldy resident Aimee Hewitt, 25, a staff nurse at the town’s Victoria Hospital.
‘Up there with New Zealand’
Mark English, 48, and his wife Liz, 47, visited Corrie Fee while on holiday in Tealing.
The couple now live in Kendall but resided in New Zealand until March 2020.
“This is up there with New Zealand as it’s very natural,” says Liz.
“It’s quite similar to the South Island with the grandeur. It is so old and unspoilt. It’s awesome.”
