Discover forest’s hidden trails
Like plantations across the land, Blackcraig Forest has a network of tracks and paths, routes laid down by lumberjacks to plant and extract timber but ideal for exploration on foot.
hiking
Hills to get your teeth into
Lake of Menteith has the distinction of being just one of a handful of ‘lakes’ in Scotland, the term more commonly associated with bodies of water south of the border.
Make your way along the May
Still just one lottery jackpot win away from buying my own secluded Scottish estate, the opportunity to wander through the tranquil wooded policies of someone else’s is always time to treasure.
Enjoy big views on giant trail
Opened a handful of summers ago, the Sleeping Giant Path was, at the time, described as the missing link between the communities of Fife and Perth & Kinross separated by the recumbent form of Benarty Hill.
Unearth grave past of twin peaks
The twin peaks of Creigh Hill, above Backwater Reservoir, in Glen Isla, were, in prehistoric times, home to two great burial cairns.
Walking the milky way
Regular readers of Take a Hike will be aware of my fascination with the histories of old paths, whether they be former drove roads through the glens, coffin roads linking scattered communities to their kirks or military routes built to quell uprisings in the Highlands.
Back in time for Tay
Coultra Hill, Balmerino, Fife
Start the New Year on a high
To start the New Year (or indeed end the old one) on a high, there are few summits in this part of the country more prominent and accessible than East Lomond in Fife.
A Christmas trail to Neverland
Playwright J M Barrie’s classic story about the little boy who never grew up – Peter Pan – has captivated and enthralled generations of children and adults.
Feline the love for this hill
Recumbent Hill of Cat rises lazily from Glen Esk but the ascent, via the historic Firmounth Road, is anything but restful. It is a long and arduous hike, sweat and toil eventually rewarded with panoramas over Angus, to the south, and Deeside and the mountains of the Cairngorms, to the north.