Earl's Seat, Campsie Fells.

Earl's Seat

Earl’s Seat, Campsie Fells. Section 26.

Height - 578  metres. Map – OS Landranger 57.

Climbed - 21 August 2011. Time taken – 3.75 hours.

Distance – 11 kilometres. Ascent – 760 metres.

The Sub 2000 Marilyn, Earl’s Seat, in the Campsie Fells, didn’t appear to be an easy hill to access, despite being close to the Glasgow conurbation. On studying the map I decided to approach it from the A81, the Glasgow to Aberfoyle road, and take in the wee steep sided hill, Dumgoyne.

I enquired about parking at the Glengoyne Distillery but was politely told that they were expecting lots of visitors and it was suggested that I park on the verge, opposite the lay-by which was closed for repair. Apparently it is common practice for walkers to park on the verge as the access road to the hill is private.  However with traffic busy on the A81 getting on and off the verge required some care.

Once parked up I set off up the private road, passed a few houses, to Blairgar, where the track passed along the front of this house and to a field where the gate was open. I followed the walker’s path across the field to a double stile and the crossing of a small stream. Beyond was a steep climb of the west face of Dumgoyne where higher up the path was quite eroded. The summit, marked by a large stone, was reached, where a young couple were taking in the views but they had no plan to continue to Earl’s Seat.

The descent of the east face of Dumgoyne was equally steep with a few rocky sections to traverse. The path joined a vehicle track as it made its way through the Canny Tops to the summit cairn of Garloch Hill. Here I had views of Killearn and in the distance, Loch Lomond.

Earl’s Seat was still some way off. I followed the undulating ridge to Bell Cairn before crossing a fence, and a short stretch of marshy ground, to reach another knoll. Eventually the path swung round to the south where again there was some marshy ground to cross. Then it was an easy climb onto Earl’s Seat. Well it would have been but firstly a fence had to be crossed to reach the summit trig point which was separated from the summit cairn by a second stock fence.

After lunch, sheltering behind the cairn from the wind, I returned by the approach route to the col between Garloch Hill and Dumgoyne then followed a path round its north and west side. This led to the route used earlier in the day which I followed back to the A81.

Photos taken on walk.