Craigmore is a prominent hill, 387 metres high, above the village of

Aberfoyle Aberfoyle may refer to: * Aberfoyle, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland *Aberfoyle, Stirling Aberfoyle () is a village in the historic county and registration county of Perthshire and the council area of Stirling, Scotland. The settlement li ...

in the council area of Stirling in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Geography

The summit of Craigmore rises about a mile northwest of the centre of Aberfoyle. The top of the hill and much of the upper southern and eastern slopes are open moorland with a few scattered trees. At its southern foot, the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic name for the ...

, accompanied by the B829 road to

Loch Ard Loch Ard (Scottish Gaelic: Loch na h-Àirde) is a loch, located in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Stirling (council area), Stirling council area, Scotland. Overview The name of the loch comes from ''àird'', the Scottish Gaelic w ...

and the village of Stronachlacher, runs from west to east. To the north and northwest, a line of increasingly higher peaks runs all the way to Ben Venue about 3 miles away. To the east, the A821 climbs up to the

Duke's Pass Duke's Pass or Dukes Pass is a pass on the A821 road between Aberfoyle and Brig o' Turk in the glen of the Trossachs in the Scottish Highlands. It climbs to a height of above sea level.Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 ''Landranger'' map series, no. 5 ...

. On the other side of this road is the David Marshall Lodge, a visitor centre for the Trossachs region. Although it is not particularly high, Craigmore appears prominent due to its location on the fringes of the

Trossachs The Trossachs (; ) generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at the centre of the are ...

range and its steep southerly slopes that drop sharply down to the valley of the River Forth and the

Scottish Lowlands The Lowlands ( or , ; , ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland. The region is characterised by its relatively flat or gently rolling terrain as opposed to the mountainous landscapes of the Scottish Highlands. This area includes ci ...

beyond.

History

On the steep, south face of the hill is an old quarry that once supplied blue-grey

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

for the traditional buildings of Aberfoyle. About a kilometre north of the summit are Aberfoyle Quarries, disused

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

quarries that were used to supply roofing material for the railways and for much of central Scotland. The route of the old tramway, which transported men and material from the quarries to the local

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

, is still discernible.

Ascent

The Lodge Visitor Centre is the easiest start point for an ascent of Craigmore, a path branching off the A821 and heading up to the line of the old tramway. From there the route follows the top of the ridge to the summit. Craigmore can also be tackled from Aberfoyle itself, passing near the visitor centre on the way. There is a cairn at the top.

Views

From the summit there are views of

Ben Lomond Ben Lomond (, ), , is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Memorial Park and the Loch Lomond and The Trossach ...

and the

Arrochar Alps The Arrochar Alps are a group of mountains located around the heads of Loch Long, Loch Fyne, and Loch Goil. They are part of the Grampian mountains range, which stretch across Scotland. The villages of Arrochar, Argyll and Bute, Arrochar and Lo ...

as well as the

References

{{Reflist Mountains and hills of Stirling (council area) Mountains and hills of the Southern Highlands