Hill of Garvock, Turin Hill, Moncreiffe Hill, Knock (Crieff)

[foggieclimber]

Hill of Garvock (nr. Laurencekirk)
Turin Hill (nr. Forfar)
Moncreiffe Hill (nr. Perth)
Knock of Crieff (nr. Crieff)
Date: Thursday 18th February 2010
Company: Foggieclimber & Beinn
Time: Each hill sub-1Hr


En-route to spending a weekend in Tyndrum, I ascended four easy and interesting Sub2000ft Marilyns.

For Hill of Garvock, I parked and set off from the viewpoint at NO738707, about 30 minutes before sunrise. The skies were gloomy, especially to the North where there were heavy snow showers.

This hill is definitely NOT dog-friendly. An access sign at the start says, "No Dogs" (which I ignored) and there are four fences/gates to negotiate (one with barbed-wire wrapped round the top of it) and also a cattle grid to cross. Beinn did however manage it with assistance at the obstacles.

There is a track to follow that leads to the summit trig point and Tower of Johnston.

Laurencekirk from viewpoint:


Following the track:


Final section of track towards summit tower and trig point:


Summit of Hill of Garvock (tower and trig point):


After returning to the car I drove to the starting point of Turin Hill.

For Turin Hill, I parked and set off from approximately NO514549.
(I did drive along the track to the farm at Back of Turin Hill and asked politely if it was ok to park there. I was refused. )

Track leading towards Back of Turin Hill:


I crossed a fence and skirted alongside the edge of March Wood to avoid cattle.

Angus hills:


A dry-stane dyke runs between the summit trig point and the summit cairn. There are however a couple of stiles to get over the wall.

Beinn at summit trig point:


Forfar (zoomed):


The summit cairn has a rusty sword in the middle of it. Wondered if there was some King Arthur/Excalibur thing going on here

Beinn at summit cairn:


After returning to the car we again set off heading for the starting point of Moncreiffe Hill, just outside Perth.

For Moncreiffe Hill, I parked and set off from Tarsappie (approx NO132209). There is limited parking at the start of the track - may be easier to park back at Wester Tarsappie.

This hill is dog and walker friendly. Nice signs and turnstiles at gates.
This is a great wee hill for views of Perth.

Perth from near starting point:


We followed the land-rover track and took the second land-rover track on the left to ascend the hill. (There are waymarker posts)

Ascending track through trees:


Beinn (summit of Moncreiffe Hill in background):


Looking across to Kinnoul hill and tower:


Perth from summit of Moncreiffe hill:


After returning to the car we again set off heading for the starting point of Knock of Crieff, just outside Crieff.

For Knock of Crieff, I parked at the Upper Car Park behind the Crieff Hydro.

The ascent to the viewpoint and monument is straight-forward. Beyond this there are a couple of strange stile/gates that are not dog-friendly.

Sign at start of walk.


Heading through the trees:


Monument and viewpoint at 244m (summit is 279m):


A good path leads through the trees directly to the summit cairn.

Entering the forest:


Summit cairn:


An enjoyable day spent on four hills in four different areas with minimal effort .

[Graeme D]

For Moncreiffe Hill, I parked and set off from Tarsappie (approx NO132209). There is limited parking at the start of the track - may be easier to park back at Wester Tarsappie.

What a great idea foggieclimber! Four distinctly separate wee hills rolled into one neat little report. And great pictures too.

Many is the time I have been up Moncreiffe Hill with the dog - it makes a nice alternative occasionally to my usual dog-walking haunts on Kinnoull Hill. I especially like taking a wee picnic up (including a cold beer) on a nice warm summer day and sitting on the crags overlooking the M90 and Bridge of Earn.

I remember one time I parked up as usual at the end of the farm track at Tarsappie, where, as you rightly say, there is limited parking available in a way that does not block or inconvenience anybody and I came back to the car to find some moany git had stuck a note under one of my wipers requesting that I "refrain from parking" there in future as I was causing an obstruction. When the Astra takes her final journey to the Great Scrapyard in the sky (which may be quite soon), I'm in half a mind to go back and dump it there just to hack the miserable sod off again!