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Caenlochan () is a glen in the Grampian Mountains of Scotland. Under EU Natura 2000 legislation it is a Special Area of Conservation for botanical reasons, containing plant communities found nowhere else in the UK. It is also a Special Protection Area for birds including the dotterel.
Among the numerous species of found in the cirque, many are rare or localised in Britain and typically confined to mountain habitats. Notable calcicole (lime-loving) species include Cerastium alpinum (alpine mouse-ear), Dryas octopetala (mountain avens), Gentiana nivalis (snow gentian), Juncus castaneus (chestnut rush), Potentilla crantzii (alpine cinquefoil), Salix reticulata (net-leaved willow), Saussurea alpina (alpine saw-wort), and Saxifraga oppositifolia (purple saxifrage).
Other species recorded in the area include Alopecurus alpinus (alpine foxtail), Cicerbita alpina (alpine blue-sow-thistle), various including Carex atrata, Carex rupestris and Carex vaginata, and several such as Salix lanata, Salix lapponum and Salix myrsinite. The summit area of Glas Maol above Caenlochan features the distinctive Dicranum fuscesens- Carex bigelowii montane heath association, documented by McVean and Ratcliffe in their 1962 monograph on Scottish Highland plant communities.McVean, D. N. and Ratcliffe, D. A. Plant Communities of the Scottish Highlands. Nature Conservancy Monograph, No. 1, H.M.S.O., London, 1962.
A published survey of the lichen flora of Caenlochan regarded the corrie as the UK's third most important site for calcicolous (lime-loving) montane lichens, after Ben Lawers and Ben Alder. After reviewing available records, the authors accepted 322 species from high-ground rock and soil, many newly recorded from the site. The flora was described as occurring in numerous small pockets rather than a single outstanding locality, with diversity linked to varied geology, including soft calcareous with marble seams and harder hornblende schists forming cliffs that support communities associated with moderately base-rich rocks, as well as especially mixed habitats along the Glasallt Burn. The alpine assemblage was considered constrained by the relatively low altitude (610–850 m), sheltered setting, limited extent of alkaline outcrops, and a dry climate: some species such as Acarospora cervina may be favoured by summer water deficit, while others appear less frequent than expected.
The area was formerly a national nature reserve, however since 2005 this designation has applied only to Corrie Fee. The boundaries of the original Caenlochan National Nature Reserve included the whole of Caenlochan Glen with its surrounding crags and the summit area of Glas Maol, as shown on the Ordnance Survey's Tourist Map of the Cairngorms.
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