Don't just sit there, do something

[superstar_tradesman]

This report's title will be familiar to anyone who's done this hill from the northwest—the words carved into a stone bench that has possibly one of the loveliest October views anywhere in Scotland. It's also a motto that I sometimes find difficult to hold onto, but it's invariably worth living by

So after a slow start to today, trying to catch up with some work stuff after a couple of weeks off, I decided I couldn't pass up a sunny afternoon hill run somewhere, and Dunkeld in autumn sunshine seemed like a good choice. I considered one or more of the Amulree Grahams, but decided to stick to something lower.

Like Allermuir, which I'd been up earlier this week, Newtyle is another of those hills whose slopes I've explored during various orienteering races held there, and I may even have been over the top before—but I wanted to go back and be sure. Previous walk reports and pictures of lumpy heather, fences, marshes and felled areas all seemed familiar, so I knew what I was heading for (and trying to avoid where I could )

Rather than start from the village, where I knew parking would be tricky on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I decided to start from the Loch of the Lowes nature reserve car park, a couple of miles east. Having consulted an old orienteering map online in advance, I thought I could see an anti-clockwise loop over the hill without having to negotiate dodgy deer fences. (A handy tip for Sub 2ks in forest is to have a look at Routegadget, a web site where orienteering clubs upload maps after races so that people can log their routes. Drummond Hill, Newtyle and Woodhead Hill (in Mabie forest at Dumfries) are all hills that might benefit from looking at the contour and vegetation detail provided by an orienteering map—obviously respecting copyright and land access responsibilities).

Newtyle Hill and Dunkeld golf course, from the nature reserve car park

From the car park I headed along the road past the golf course on my right, to a track end (not realising the path through the woods would also take me there). Turning right, I joined the track that led SW gently uphill through pleasant woodland, through a couple of gates and joining up with the more common Dunkeld path at the giant metal gate. Through the gate, then I plodded up the track, stopping at the seat that gives this report its title.

Don't just sit there…

River, bridge and autumn leaves. And a powered paraglider!

The gradient eases off as approaching the large radio mast, at which point the track becomes much more overgrown), and soon I was doubling back N up an incredibly steep piece of track to meet the wall/fence junction and stile shown in the photo in Dot on the landscape's walk report.

From here, keeping the wall on the right, it's a tough plod through deep heather, bracken and scattered trees, over a nearly-summit, down to a marsh and up to the true top, marked by a cairn. The trees are gradually growing up round the top, so the views aren't the best. But sometimes it's okay to be admiring trees, and today was one of those days.

Newtyle's summit cairn

Looking S from the summit towards the Lomond Hills

At this point I decided the loop was definitely on, so I descended N, skirting a marsh and another lump to the W, then turned NNE through between two smaller hills, and gradually down, picking my way through heather and bracken along occasional animal trods.

The way back down, through lovely autumn trees

Cresting another slight rise, there were beautiful views down to a tranquil Loch of the Lowes. Soon I reached a wall, with a small fence alongside it (no barbed wire). With care, this can be climbed without too much effort—I didn't see a stile, though it might be easier to cross to the E, at a wall junction.

Loch of the Lowes, with Deuchary Hill behind

Looking east beyond the loch towards Blairgowrie

Immediately on the other side of the wall is a pretty boggy and overgrown track, which I followed (with one exception where I briefly lost it as it suddenly dived N), all the way back to the track that was the start of the day's route, and then down to the road. This time I took the path back to the car park, and enjoyed a bit of peace until some people showed up with a drone…

Newtyle's closeness to Dunkeld and low height bely the effort needed to bag it, and the amount of undergrowth means I'd definitely avoid it in high summer. But if you're after a mix of path and rough wandering in a lovely part of the world, it's well worth the visit.