Stratha'an

Stratha'an or Strathavon is the valley of the River Avon, (pronounced "River A'an"^[1][2]), in the Strathspey area of Moray, Scotland.

The upper reaches of the valley, which is 63.9 km (39.7 mi) long all told,^[3][a] are at Loch A'an in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park and the river only leaves the eastern edge of the Park about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from its confluence with the Spey near Ballindalloch. The largest settlement in the strath is the village of Tomintoul.

The geology of the area is much influenced by the Caledonian mountain building era that began during the Ordovician period nearly 500 million years ago.

Stratha'an as a provincial lordship was first recorded in the late 12th century. Map-making of the strath commenced in the late 16th century but it was not until the 19th century that truly accurate maps were created. Many of the place names are influenced by the Scottish Gaelic language. There are numerous archaeological sites listed by Historic Environment Scotland's Canmore database from both the historic and prehistoric eras along the whole length of the valley. Tourism, agriculture, forestry and whisky distilling dominate the local economy. Notable literary references include a poem Nan Shepherd wrote about Loch A'an in the 1930s.

The wildlife is fairly typical of the Cairngorms and surrounding area, although unusual in a UK context. For example, Britain's only free-ranging herd of reindeer roam on the hills in the upper strath. The vegetation of the middle reaches of the valley is dominated by the purple-flowering heather Calluna vulgaris.

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