Grantown-on-Spey in the context of Sir James Grant, 8th Baronet

Cairngorms National Park (Scottish Gaelic: Pàirc Nàiseanta a' Mhonaidh Ruaidh) is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, which was set up in 2002. The park covers the Cairngorms range of mountains, and surrounding hills. Already the largest national park in the United Kingdom, in 2010 it was expanded into Perth and Kinross.

Roughly 18,000 people live within the 4,528-square-kilometre (1,748 sq mi) national park. The largest communities are Aviemore, Ballater, Braemar, Grantown-on-Spey, Kingussie, Newtonmore and Tomintoul. Like all other national parks in the UK, the park is IUCN designated Category V however it contains within its boundaries several national nature reserves that have IUCN Category II (national park) statuses, such as Abernethy Forest and Mar Lodge Estate.

Strathspey (Scottish Gaelic: Srath Spè, [s̪t̪ɾa ˈs̪peː]) is a region of the Scottish Highlands comprising part of the valley of the Spey. It includes the towns of Aviemore, Boat of Garten, Grantown-on-Spey, and Aberlour.

Strathspey, as traditionally defined, stretches from Upper Craigellachie (near Aviemore) to Lower Craigellachie (near the village of the same name). Above it is Badenoch and below it is the low-lying region of Speyside. The region is administratively divided between Moray and the Highland council area.

Castle Grant stands a mile north of Grantown-on-Spey and was the former seat of the Clan Grant chiefs of Strathspey in Highlands, Scotland. It was originally named Freuchie Castle but was renamed Grant in 1694. The castle is a Category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland. The castle was sold by the Grant family in 1983, remaining in private ownership since.