Craigmore, Aberfoyle

Craigmore

Loch Ard, Ben Lomond and Arrochar Alps from the summit

Looking northeast to snow-capped Ben Ledi

Ascent:              370 metres
Distance:           4 kilometres
Time:                 1 hr  5 mins
Craigmore         387m   35mins

Craigmore sits behind the village of Aberfoyle and beckons you as you arrive from Stirling or Glasgow. Its fine steep southern face was a former whinstone quarry that provides the blue-grey dolerite building stone for the traditional buildings in the village. To the north of the hill are the old slate quarries that provided the railways and much of central Scotland with their roofing material. I was told by the last manager that less than half the slate had been extracted when it closed.

There has been no attempt to reopen the quarries since 1996 when geologists from Glasgow University looked at the possibility of sourcing slate for the roof of the Great Hall at Stirling Castle. Alas, Spanish slate was chosen instead and, on the grand opening of the restored Great Hall on a blustery St Andrew's Day 1999, the flimsy Spanish slates were heard tippling down the roof to the palpable amusement of the Duke of Edinburgh as a young harpist played for the Queen and First Minister. Maybe the proximity of Tradstocks, one of Scotland's main providers of natural building stone, will prompt a re-examination of commercial extraction in the future.

The routes to the summit start from the David Marshall (DM) Lodge. The original path, which I normally follow, starts about 50 metres above the entrance to the DM Lodge on the right curve in the Duke's pass road. This path has become overgrown in recent years since the opening of the new route. The path cuts diagonally through the bracken and brambles and crosses the track leading to the old whinstone quarry. Beyond this, the path crosses an old fence and steepens. It is quite distinct as it climbs the shoulder of the hill. You pass a large boulder and a couple of fir trees before reaching the old tramway that brought slate from the slate quarry down to the village. An old stone-built section of the tramway is where the path crosses a channel and climbs steeply again. At the top of a ramp, it joins the new path which arrives from the Duke's pass. From here the path climbs and then follows a level section along a boggy ridge before dropping to a bealach and then the final ascent up a rocky path to the flattish summit. There is a small cairn overlooking Loch Ard with fine views of Ben Lomond and the Arrochar Alps beyond.

The more recent route follows the path to the waterfall from the DM car park and turns left to a path that keeps to the west of the waterfall and climbs through the birch forest to the Duke's Pass. Crossing the road here leads to a path which zigzags its way up the hillside for an ascent of 200 metres before joining the original path. The path also feeds into a short traverse parallel to the Duke's Pass and after about 400 metres the Craigmore path requires you to turn sharp left on the less travelled path that is easy to miss when the bracken is high in summer. If completing a circuit of the hill this is the better route for the ascent. The descent by the original route is far quicker and although steep gives splendid views of the village and the Forth Valley.

From the summit, the walk can be extended to Ben Venue but it is a long slog (2 hours) through bogs, tree plantations and quite undulating before it curves round to the superb summit of Ben Venue. It is better to treat Craigmore as a mini hill and an alternative to the ever-popular Ben A'an at the other end of the Duke's pass. If extending the walk, it is worth following the old tramway to the slate quarry which offers a dramatic examination of our industrial heritage. Craigmore is a good hill on a clear evening when there are views down to the hills of Arran as well as over the Campsies to Glasgow. But best of all is the arc of munros from Ben Lomond to Ben More - west to northwest. And the fact you can be down and home in 15 minutes if the weather or mood takes you and your legs are willing.