Corrour Bothy
The toilet extension from the south, showing the stone steps leading to the door
The interior of the toilet. There are no 'dual sittings': only one seat is in use at any one time.
Inside the bothy, looking from the door towards the fireplace wall
The sleeping platform in Corrour Bothy. Just out of the picture to the left is the storm porch inside the front door.
A rather crowded windowsill in Corrour. Unlike the old one, this window opens.
cairngormwanderer 
I first stayed here in 1961, when a party of us decided to renovate the bothy. We put in another wooden floor and paneled the walls, rather than using planks. Which we brought in all the materials using garrons kindly lent to us by Mar Lodge Estate. Unfortunately, the next time we visited in 1964 all the paneling and the floor had ended up the chimney once again. The last time that I stayed there was in 1971 and the earth floor had somehow developed a slope, as when one woke up in a ball at the opposite side in the morning. I cannot ever visualizing to visit again as I consider myself too infirm now having developed arthritis in legs, arms and hands which in all probability I got from sleeping in the hills & waking up in too many damp places.
Beware of the damp.
Hi Colin,
Great to hear from you. It’s really interesting to hear about your renovation – I wasn’t aware there had been any substantial work between the Cairngorm Club effort and the cementing of the floor, so it’s good to gain another piece of Corrour’s history and learn that people have been putting such effort into looking after it – even if others have been thoughtless and destructive.
Sorry to hear you won’t be able to visit again; from the photos, you’ll see it’s looking great now and is a very comfortable bothy to stay in. And – touch wood – there may be the perennial litter problem, but there has been no vandalism since the renovation was completed.
I have just found about the bothy tonight after looking at my new OS map to plan a trip to the Lairig Ghru, so I will hopefully be visiting the bothy in person this summer. Very touched to read the comments above, excellent!
Hi Toby, Good luck with the Lairig walk and hope you enjoy your stay at Corrour. I’m away up there this coming weekend to tidy the place up a bit and see to some jobs.
Neil
How many folks can kip in the bothy, some of us are doing a charity walk next year that stops at the bothy for the night ?
It will sleep about a dozen if everyone cooperates, but the MBA does ask that people not go in groups of six or more. This is especially important as Corrour can be very busy at some times of the year. It’s wise to take tents as back-up, especially if you’re in a larger group.
I spent a rather wet & windy night in this bothy, along with 13 other people in 2011. Hardly any room to move & as fragrant as the toilet!
Still, was better than facing the elements in a tent somewhere!
Fourteen in Corrour is quite busy. It’s not bad once you all get yourself arranged, but the cooking and settling down is always a nightmare. 🙂
Visited on a school trip with Northfield School 1961 R. Cowie
Re. Sleeping in corrour bothy, in the 1970s I remember staying one night and the head count was 22males,1 female and a dog and someone knocked on the door about mid-night but they were lucky, they had tents, it was quite a night. Chuck walker bucksburn, aberdeen.
I stayed in the bothy in February 1988 on one of the coldest nights of my life I think. Waded in through snow and storm in the Lairig Ghru and found the bothy packed with people. The concrete floor was puddled with melting snow and the only thing keeping your sleeping bags dry (I had 2) were the plastic bivvy bags laid underneath, karrimats on top and then on your rucksack. I was still cold with all my cloths on. Morning could have been down to -20 as my hand stuck to the metal pans I had. 4 hours plus to go through near waste deep snow to the top of Ben Madhui at 11am and a walk across the plateau in stunning weather to Cairngorm.
Aye, it was a cold place in those days. I stayed there one February night in the early ’80s when my bivvy bag actually froze to the floor overnight. Didn’t sleep much. 🙂
a local lad told me the tale aboot the keeper at Corrour , (approx 1915) . There was a knock at the door , it was the local bobby with his call up papers ,…yer worst nightmare ..think it was Macintosh the keeper …but will find oot !
I stayed here with a mate in feb 2003 (i think). We carried loads of pine branches miles and had a massive fire inside, burning up all the rubbish and gave the place a good tidy up. That night was so good, loads of people but big fire and brilliant atmosphere. Being new to the scottish mountains I was to shocked to see the terrible shit problem around the bothy, What was so hard about going with your spade and digging a remote pit? I left comments in the visitor book about it.
Glad to see that there is a toilet now.
Hi all.
I spent some time exploring the Cairngorms in the late 1950s, usually by myself but made one last trip in 1961 with my new wife. We were aiming, super-optimistically as it turned out, to Aviemore from Inverey (I had done this a few times by myself, sometimes the other direction). We gave up on our plan and headed to the Bothy for the night only to find it bursting at the seams with a bunch of Scouts. Kindly, they loaned us a tent for the night. I don’t remember the toilet arrangements ! (this was a loooong time ago).
Cheers, Adam
First visited Corrour in I think 1974 or 75. Summer,with two friends. We were the only ones there that night which was probably just as well because one of my friends took ill. We were heading from Braemar to Aviemore,but, on the advice of a more experienced walker, turned back on the second day due to dense fog, so two stops at Corrour in quick succession. Went back in August 2012 walking from Aviemore to Braemar. The whole bothy was much better than it had been almost 40 years earlier, not just the toilet which I think is amazing. Need to visit again,maybe using as a base to explore Cairn Toul, Braeriach, Ben MacDui and possibly over to Cairngorm