Scolty Hill is a small hill south of the Deeside town,

Banchory Banchory (, , ) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, historically in Kincardineshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee. Prehistory and archaeology In 2009, a farmer discovered a short ...

. Its best known feature is the 20m tall tower monument, built in 1840 as a memorial to General William Burnett who fought alongside

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. The tower was restored in 1992 and a viewing platform added by the Rotary Club of Banchory-Ternan. It enjoys splendid views over Banchory, the Dee Valley and the

Grampian Mountains The Grampian Mountains () is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian range extends northeast to so ...

, which surround the hill. This encourages thousands of visitors each year. It is popular for

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

s, locals and

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling (''mountain biking''). Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in r ...

rs. Part of the hill is owned by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

, the other part is owned by local landowner Ron Middleton. Recent forestry work has meant that many visitors are not allowed on some paths for safety purposes. However, once this is completed the Scolty Woodland Park Association plan on recreating some of the paths on the hill and local mountain bikers also plan on creating a downhill mountain bike track, similar to the one at Pitfichie.

External sources

Forestry Commission website

Walking Scotland - Scolty Hill

Banchory Community Website

Visit Banchory -Gateway to Royal Deeside

References

{{Reflist Mountains and hills of Aberdeenshire Tourist attractions in Aberdeenshire