Today, Balmoral is a working estate which provides for and is closely linked with the local community. The estate is owned and funded by Her Majesty the Queen personally rather than as Sovereign. It comprises 18,659 hectares owned between Balmoral, Birkhall and Glen Doll, with 2,940 hectares of grouse moor at Corgarff. The land is poor (mainly granites) and most lies over 1000ft above sea level. There are seven Munros (mountains over 3,000ft), while 3,000 hectares are afforested and 190 hectares are arable and pasture.

Over 2,500 red deer can be counted on the estate in winter, including a substantial number from neighbouring estates. In summer the red deer population can be less than 1000 head. To conserve the natural habitat, the intention is to maintain a population which will allow an annual stalking cull of 180 stags. All the venison is sold in the home (UK) market. Over 20 Highland, Fell and Haflinger ponies are used to bring deer carcasses off the hill. During the summer they are available for pony trekking for visitors. Gamekeepers and stalkers maintain the game resources, mostly red and roe deer and grouse.

Around 70,000 paying visitors visit Balmoral Castle, Gardens and Grounds every year between mid-April and the end of July. Just over half come from overseas. The Lochnagar and Loch Muick area of the estate sees 180,000 walkers every year, who visit without charge. The estate maintains a network of about 120 miles of roads, tracks and footpaths while supporting Scotland's Concordat on Access giving freedom of access for responsible countryside users. A full-time Ranger Service has been provided for 30 years, together with a visitor centre at the Spittal of Muick (beyond the car-park at the road-end). The Rangers conduct walks on the estate to visit sites of interest throughout the year. Though wild camping is not encouraged, there are climbing bothies for hill users. Mountain rescue teams and the armed services regularly train on the estate.

In 1998 the summit plateau of Lochnagar and around 1,600 hectares of ancient pine woodland were designated as 'Special Protection Areas' under the European Conservation Directives. Over 300 hectares of the old Caledonian forest - in one of its few remaining areas - is protected by fencing from deer grazing in order to help regenerate the native pinewoods, with heather, blaeberry and a range of young pine, birch and rowan. The 3,000 hectares of forest on the estate are managed under shelterwood systems of forest management to replicate natural processes.