free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
I'd had a mind to do this walk for quite some time now as it's pretty much on the doorstep. My colleague and good friend skyepilot2 does this as his local dog walk as it's even more on his doorstep than mine and I've heard him commend it many times. So, with no major plans this weekend and the weather forecast borderline acceptable, I set off on Saturday afternoon with my wife and the dog in tow to investigate for myself.
We drove out through Scone to Balbeggie where we branched off onto the back road which loops around through such exotic backwaters as Rait and Kilspindie before emerging somewhere out onto the A90 Perth to Dundee road. 10 minutes later we were taking the left turn at the signpost for Collace before passing the working quarry and pulling into the roadside parking area by the gate and the information board just before entering the village of Collace itself.
There are several signs on and around the gate saying "No dogs" - skyepilot had mentioned this and also the fact that he pays them scant regard. We also paid them no attention and at 12.20pm and we were heading past the offending signs and up the steep grassy hillside past the forestry plantation and onto the muddy path which weaves it's way through the heather and bracken up onto the site of the ancient iron-age fort on Dunsinane Hill.
The first thing that strikes you when you reach the top of Dunsinane Hill is the view eastwards along the Tay towards Dundee, with the rail and road bridges both standing out on the water. Elsewhere, the views are a little limited by the low cloud but the mountains of the Mounth are visible to the north with their white coats on.
From the old fort, it's a steep drop off to the east into the deep bealach below the crags of Black Hill. A faint, rocky path leads to the left of the crags and up onto the heathery ridge, which then meanders across various little summits and dips before dropping down and skirting a wide area of reed marsh before finally climbing up onto the summit of King's Seat, whose bright white painted trig pillar had stood out like a beacon all the way along the ridge.
The wind was getting up now and it was speckled with rain, so after a quick mug of hot juice and a few marshmallows we dropped west off the summit onto the lower ground to the north of the ridge and headed back towards the corner of the forestry above where the car was parked. In hindsight, it may have been better to simply retrace our steps on the way back, as it was a real old bog trot in many places.
We enjoyed this walk. It's ideal for a short November afternoon. We took our time as well, setting a very leisurely pace. I'm sure it could probably be done in little over an hour and a half if you were really going for it and the bogs had abated a bit.
- Start near Collace
- Looking back down on the rolling Perthshire countryside
- First view of a distant King's Seat
- Approaching the summit of Dunsinane Hill
- Summit cairn on Dunsinane Hill - crags of Black Hill and the Tay beyond in the background
- Looking north over wide open country
- Ditches and ramparts of the old fort clearly visible in the ground
- Crags of Black Hill from Dunsinane Hill
- Steep descent ahead
- Into the valley
- On Black Hill looking back to Dunsinane Hill
- East towards King's Seat
- Lucy goes marsh wading
- Hot juice at the trig point
- View west from the summit