Overview of Dee, River

Rising in the Cairngorm Mountains to the west of Ben Macdhui, the River Dee flows south from the Pools of Dee through Glen Dee before turning east at the Chest of Dee for the remainder of its course through the picturesque landscape of Royal Deeside. It eventually enters the North Sea at Footdee in the City of Aberdeen and has a total length of 96 miles (154 km). To the west of Braemar it forms a cascade known as the Linn of Dee and on its course it passes Braemar, Ballater, Aboyne, Banchory and Peterculter. The final reach of the river comprised a sequence of sandbanks and braided channels until it was tamed in the 18th and 19th centuries and finally diverted to the south associated with the development of Aberdeen Harbour.