Munros and Other Walks

  Distance Walked: 5.76km Time Taken: 1 hour 57 min Route The route that we took for this walk is shown below.  We started this walk in the centre of Strathaven, for a shorter walk it is possible to park at the waterfall car park in Sandford. This is a small village a couple of miles from Stathaven. As it was a nice day we decided on a slightly longer route starting at the carpark on Station Road. From here, we took a left out of the car park, along Station Road and then a right on the B7086.   Road out of Strathavon View from The farm Track On the Right Track? This road takes you out of the town towards Sandford. After a couple of hundred metres out of the town we took the first farm track on the left. There is an official signpost further on, however, both routes end up in the same place later on. The farm track is scenic and muddy, the track bends towards the river and over what looks like a newly built bridge. There are some nice views of the river and the surrou...

  Cort-ma Law Less than an hours drive from Glasgow, just north of Lennoxtown are the Campsie hills, which allows for a quick days hike.  Starting Point The best place to start is at the Campsie Glen waterfall car park. This can get busy, so it is best to try and get a parking space early. The walk itself starts directly opposite the car park.  Car park location Location of hill Route The track ascends immediately from the carpark travelling east, go past the old shelter covered in graffiti. Shelter Hike up from the car park The track continues upward and the track could be tricky at this point for younger walkers. The first part of the walk ends at a small cairn marker.  First marker cairn From there the hike undulates for 2km as it snakes it's way slightly south of the actual top. Here you will reach a bigger cairn marker.  Second marker cairn From this marker turn north east to the trig point 4.5 km distance. The height of the summit is 526m. We reached the t...

  Lowther Hill Radar Station Wanlockhead has the distinction of being the highest highest village in Scotland at 466m and located here are the Lowther hills. Lowther and Green Lowther hills can be spotted easily due to the radar station and aerials that are situated at the tops of these hills.  Wanlockhead Route  The Route  We  parked at the Visitor centre car park. From there we walked past the toilets, up the slope next to the playpark. We continued this across the road and up onto the open slopes, heading south east.  We were following part of the route for the Southern Upland Way, the markers were quite obvious.  Wanlockhead Village Route Markers for the SUW The track crosses over the road that leads up to the radar station and it would be possible to walk entirely on the road. The height of Lowther Hill is 725m so the accent from the village is only just under 300m.  Looking Back Down the Track Getting Closer  Road to the Station  V...

  First Hike After Lockdown The news of an another lockdown wasn't a surprise, with rising infection and death rates in December and January.   It has been tough for everyone to spend their time within their local community. Usually, it is quite  normal to spend the winter walking lower routes as the snow sweeps on across the larger hills in Scotland.  Now, as the restrictions begin to relax and the snow receeding,  it was time to get out and about. I had considered Tinto for a long time, mainly because it would also be suitable for younger children to walk. With the youngest member of the family still in nursery, we needed a hill that would be achievable to get up and down in a few hours.  Location  Tinto is situated in southern Scotland,  still within the South Lanarkshire Council area. It is located 8 miles from Lanark and stands at 711m in height. From Glasgow, head south on the M74 to junction 11. From there follow the A73 towards Bigger...

  Here we are back at Dalzell Estate, due to Covid restrictions as it was deemed necessary not to travel to far from our home. In this case we decided to travel the short distance and have a closer look at the loch and nature reserve. The last time we had a walk around the Japanese garden and the woods in general, by passing the large stately home that is almost impossible to miss. This time we headed in the opposite direction.  The Route Our route took us west from the car park and out onto open countryside and then south beside some trees. After a 1km or so it joins onto the Wetland route which, next to the loch. We continued along this path a little too long and after the first hide we should have turned left, switching back along the outer end of the loch. We had to double back on ourselves, but we had only gone 100m or so in the wrong direction.  Path Bird Hide On the far side where the path is trapped between the river Clyde and the loch, the vegetation is high here...

  With the car out of action a short train journey was in order to visit Chatelherault country park. The bonus is that the train station is located opposite the park, which make for a very easy trip. As always, the plans in my head were for myself and the kids to have a decent walk through the woods or to a ruined castle, however the kids idea was just to visit the play park. After what felt like a very long 50 mins the kids were bored of the play park and a deal was struck about going for a walk. This is a complicated process of them not wanting to walk very far at all, and me seeing it as a chance to explore. It was decided that a walk to the Wham pond was a good compromise, a distance of 1.8km away, what a long walk! C hatelherault Park Pond Walk Route The pond is located behind the main house, where the shop and information centre is. We followed the signs that led to the overflow car park and then descended down a set of steps to the woods at the bottom of the main flat g...