Which UK national park is the largest, located in the Scottish Highlands?

Which UK national park is the largest, located in the Scottish Highlands? Cairngorms National Park is the accepted answer. Covering about 4,528 square kilometres, it is the largest national park in the United Kingdom.

The park was established in 2003 and includes the Cairngorm mountain range along with surrounding hills, glens, forests, and settlements. Its boundaries extend across parts of Aberdeenshire, Moray, Highland, Angus, and Perth and Kinross. A 2010 expansion added land in Perth and Kinross.

The landscape contains some of Scotland’s finest remaining Caledonian pinewoods, broad upland plateaus, and the headwaters of major rivers including the Spey, Dee, and Don. Wildlife includes red deer, mountain hare, golden eagle, ptarmigan, and the only herd of semi-domesticated reindeer in the British Isles.

Visitors sometimes confuse the park’s size with that of the Cairngorm mountains themselves. The mountain range is its centerpiece, but the national park also encompasses extensive surrounding landscapes and communities.