Meikle Bin and the Carron Valley Reservoir

This walk ascends one of the more distinctive hills of the Campsies. It is quite a long walk of about 8 miles but gradients, even on the hill, are not too steep. It provides a variety of terrain, with excellent forest roads, dreadfully boggy paths, rough forest firebreaks and even ditches to be negotiated. The return takes in the shore of Carron Valley Reservoir, with views of the wind farm on the opposite bank....make of that what you will !



Here is the route....




Starting from the forest road opposite Todholes, the route follows these stoney but well made paths to the foot of Meikle Bin's north-west ridge. Here a very boggy path cuts through the trees, soon reaching the open hillside where a much better path ascends the ridge to the summit. To make a circular walk, continue south off the summit down a grassy path to a firebreak at the tree-line. Into this, very rough ground is negotiated, two ditches are crossed, and a branch going left (east) is taken. On leaving the trees, the path improves again, the route eventually joining the fine forest road network again for the remainder of the walk, which reaches the reservoir and follows it's south-western shore.

The video shows the route and the terrain......

Conic Hill

This walk starts from the village of Balmaha on the east bank of Loch Lomond. It's not a very high hill but there are four tops to explore and great views of Loch Lomond, Ben Lomond and the Arrochar hills. The return down the grassy ridge of Druim nam Buraich is delightful. It is neither too long nor too strenuous and provides a fun half day on the hills.

Here is the route......

From the back of the large car park at the visitor centre in Balmaha, the West Highland Way is followed through woodland then onto open hill. As it runs alongside the hill, the WHW is left to gain the ridge of Conic Hill . Walk along the ridge to visit the four tops. Return down the WHW back to Bealach Ard when instead of turning left down the ascent route, you can continue straight on along the grassy ridge of Druim nam Buraich. A path leads steeply off the end of this, down through woodland to the Balmaha - Rowardennan road. Turn left on this to return to Balmaha.

Here is the video.....

Campsie Fells...Dumgoyne & Earl's Seat

This walk visits Dumgoyne, the best hill in the Campsies, and Earl's Seat, the highest point. Dumgoyne is a proper "mini mountain", the ascent from the distillery being short but steep. The continuation to Earl's Seat is an easy angled meander along the high moorland of the Campsies.

Here is the route.....

Starting at a lay-by at Glengoyne Distillery, we cross the road onto the lane which winds up past some cottages. This leads to fields which are crossed and provide access to the lower slopes of Dumgoyne. The route to Earl's Seat passes to the left (north) of Dumgoyne. Simply follow grassy paths up onto the plateau then along to the top as described. Dumgoyne's steep western slopes are climbed to a higher path which is followed less steeply to the South-West ridge which is followed to the top. Dumgoyne is best descended by the route described in the pictures, ie reverse the upward route but continue on the high path past the top of the steep part of the ascent route, continuing to gentler slopes further north on the flank of the hill.

Here is the picture slide-show.......

Cruach Tairbeirt

Cruach Tairbeirt is a low hill rising just to the north of the village of Tarbet on the west bank of Loch Lomond. Tarbet lies at the junction of the A82 and A83 major roads and is a popular tourist spot. There are a number of walks in the area, and this walk incorporates one of these, the Cruach Loop.

Access to the loop is from Tarbet railway station. At the far end of the loop, access to the hill is gained by leaving the main path to follow a vague, rough and over-grown "path" which runs up the edge of dense woodland, following a burn. The determined walker, with machete in hand, will soon reach a point where a fire-break emerges from the forrest. I presume that this was the main route to the hill as it comes from the upper Cruach Loop path. However, the guide book says that this route is so boggy that it is not recomended. I had a wee explore of it, and found it was also blocked by fallen trees, hence the route described by the stream is preferred. After the fire-break the path improves and exits a clearing onto open hill. From here vague paths lead through heather and scrub to the top. As you will see from the video, coming back down I missed these bits of path but it's no problem to follow the tree-line back to the clearing and the top of the path through the forrest.

Here are the pictures......

Tullich Hill

Tullich Hill is one of the Luss Hills found to the west of Loch Lomond. It is one of the group of hills to the north of the Glen Douglas road. It's not a high hill, at just over 2000 feet. ( A "Graham" ). It's also a short walk of no more than 4 miles. However, the time taken is just short of 4 hours, almost as long as it takes to get up Ben Lawers ! (See previous post ). Why should this be ?...the answer lies in the terrain encountered on this hill. There is little respite from rough boggy ground, long clinging grass and tough ferny plants which have to be shoved out the way. The slopes are not particularly steep, but the nature of the terrain drains the legs of energy. Having done this walk, you will really appreciate why people build paths up hills ! Needless to say, there are no paths on this hill.


What Tullich Hill does offer is solitude, ( you'll probably have the hill to yourself, which could be a problem if you break your ankle in a water filled pothole! ), and great views from the top. ( The Arrochar Alps are particularly splendid from here. ). You can also bask in a sense of achievement which is proportional to the effort expended, rather than the height of the hill !





Here is the route summery..........

The road up Glen Douglas is a narrow single track road. Parking is limited. I managed to find a grassy verge a few hundred yards west of the farm at Invergroin, which left the road and the passing places clear.

From this parking place walk in a roughly NE direction to gain the SE ridge of the hill. Turn NW to ascend this ridge to the top. Another ridge leads roughly NE from the top, and this was used in descent. Lower down this ridge, veer right ( south ) as the valley between Tullich Hill and Bhein Bhreac is reached. Head south down the valley back to the Glen Douglas road, veering right (west ) towards the car.

Here is the slide show of the route......

Ben Lawers and Beinn Ghlas

This walk is the "standard" route to Ben Lawers. At a shade under 4000 feet, it is the highest mountain in the southern highlands of Scotland. Beinn Ghlas is climbed on the way, it's a lofty enough lump itself at over 3600 feet. As expected, the views are fantastic..........

We start from the Ben Lawers Visitor Centre which is on the minor road to Bridge of Balgie. This road leaves the A827 Killin to Aberfeldy road about 4 miles north of Killin. There is a large car park at the visitor centre, but the centre itself is closed.

We enter the nature reserve and take the nature trail path, which follows the burn and gives a scenic ascent with Beinn Ghlas in the back-ground. This path soon reaches the main Ben Lawers path which we follow to the summit of Beinn Ghlas...quite a stiff climb on the well made path which zig-zags up the hill.

From Beinn Ghlas we walk along the delightful ridge to the foot of the summit cone of Ben Lawers and climb to the top up steep and rocky ground.

We take the easy way down using a path which runs into Coire Odhar. This starts at the foot of Ben Lawers summit cone and traverses along the flank of Beinn Ghlas, by-passing it's summit. It joins the outward route just before that route steepens to climb Beinn Ghlas....thus avoiding all the steepest parts of Beinn Ghlas. It's a very easy route off a very big mountain ! ( Of course this path in reverse would also provide an easier way UP to Ben Lawers, but missing out Beinn Ghlas would be a shame. )

The slide show video will show the way......

Ben Lomond

Here we describe a long walk exploring Ben Lomond, the most southerly munro, only an hours drive from Glasgow. It's a beautiful hill, with fine views over Loch Lomond and the hills beyond.

Starting from the car park at Rowardennan at the end of the road on the east bank of Loch Lomond, the Ben Lomond hill path leads easily to the summit. From here the easiest way down is to simply retrace your steps. Another popular way down is to follow the Ptarmigan ridge, which has a rough path which leads back to the West Highland Way just above Rowardennan.

Our walk descends the north ridge of Ben Lomond to visit the smaller Cruinn a' Bheinn, which gives grand views of Ben Lomond's northern cliffs. We continue north then west to descend steeply to the West Highland Way at Cailness, from which a walk south of about five miles takes us back to Rowardennan...........

Ben Vane

Here is the way up Ben Vane, one of the "Arrochar Alps" which lie to the west of Loch Lomond. It's just over 3000 feet so it's one of the smaller munros, but it's a great walk with steep paths, rocky bits to be clambered over and a gully to be climbed, ( choice of at least two! ), so you can pretend you're a real mountaineer, before the summit is reached.

Starting at Inveruglas Visitor Centre off the A82 Loch Lomondside road, we walk south past the power station and turn right up the private road to Loch Sloy. We leave this road at a left branch to go over a large bridge which after a few hundred yards leads to a small bridge. Here a path starts which we follow up to Ben Vane's south-east ridge. Here is the slide show..........

The "bad step" is just a big boulder that was chest high to me and quite smooth. Taller people won't be bothered by it. The gully above it is a rocky staircase, similar to the alternative gully I used to ascend. Oddly enough, the "bad step" boulder proves no problem on the way down!

Incidently, the video has a deliberate mistake....Ben Ime and Ben Narnain are not "Ben"s at all.....they're "Beinn"s !

Doune Hill

Here is a walk in the Luss Hills, to the west of Loch Lomond. Most of the hard work is done on the ascent to Beinn Eich, thereafter the walking is on a very pleasant grassy ridge, with short climbs up and down Doune Hill and the 701m top ......

A few cars can be parked at the end of the narrow road up Glen Luss. From here we take to the hillside above Edentaggart to ascend Beinn Eich. We follow the ridge to Doune Hill then descend to the coll below the 701m top. After visiting this top, we descend back to the coll and return to the start via Glen Mollochan.....check out the video.....

Schiehallion

Today we will visit Schiehallion, a well known mountain just north of Aberfeldy. At over 3500 feet it is a worthwhile challenge. The walk starts from the Braes of Foss car park. From there the route goes south to reach the eastern ridge of the hill, which is followed to the summit...









On leaving the car park the path is very well made and you may well think this will be a "walk in the park", but Schiehallion has another side to it's character, and it's summit will not be so easily
achieved.

Check out the video..............

In fact negotiating the ridge is good fun providing you're wearing appropriate kit and this is really quite an easy walk, not too strenuous.

Ben Vorlich (Loch Earn)

Today we'll descibe a longer walk up a "proper" mountain, the 985m munro Ben Vorlich. This hill lies to the south of Loch Earn. The walk starts at Ardvorlich House, a few miles along the narrow road which runs along the south shore of the loch. From here we ascend the north ridge of the hill to the summit. We return down the South-East ridge and then into the glen where we turn north back to the start.......a very fine walk.....check out the video......

Ben A'an

Welcome to Hill Walks in Pictures.

Here you will find walking routes up popular hills and mountains, described using photos taken on the walks.

Let's start with a video slide show of a walk up Ben A'an, a hill of modest height but great character, in the Trossachs, east of Loch Lomond.

The path opposite the car park climbs through pleasant woodland then steeply up a rocky section, then round behind and up to the top of the summit. We return back down the route of ascent........check out the video......