南スコットランドの絶景の山頂・トップ20

If the clouds had cleared, the view would have been fantastic.

The landscape is stunningly beautiful, but the paths are not as easy to walk as advertised. The barely discernible path up leads almost entirely through muddy, boggy terrain. We often sank ankle-deep, at times knee-deep. From Loch Enech onwards, there is no discernible path; the ground is drier, but eroded and full of holes. The way down is the official route, and considerably better. They've tried to make everything more walkable with fleece and gravel, but the water has already washed away much of it. Unfortunately, it's hard to enjoy the scenery while walking, as you're so busy trying not to slip and sink with every step. In the end, we were glad to be back down with our bones intact. The path can only be recommended with reservations.

It's a straightforward hike to to the summit, need to avoid the wetter parts on the path and can be a little rocky in places but no scrambling required. Views from the top a very good - we could just about make out Ben Lomond to the north through the heat haze, and Arran to the west.

After the peaks it's all flat terrain and definitely more busy on a dry day. Walk the way back after the last peak if you prefer the challenge of it.

Screel Hill is a 344m hill overlooking Auchencairn Bay and the Solway Firth with excellent views across to the English Lake District. The excellent path up the east ridge was badly damaged by fallen trees during Storm Arwen in 2021 and these have not been closed so the upper section of the path has been closed. However a new path cuts across to meet the upper path above the damaged section so it is now possible to walk the upper section of the lovely east ridge again.

This is the summit of Windy Gyle 619mtrs. Approaching this hill you start to be amongst the clouds and visibility becomes less. It can be windy and wet but was not too bad on the day of the trail in late September 2024

After a steep second half of the ascent, the views from the top are spectacular, and the run back down is superb

Criffel at 569m doesn’t quite reach the height necessary to qualify as a Donald or Graham but it does qualify as a Marilyn with well over the required 150m of prominence. Criffel stands largely alone on the Dumfries and Galloway coast, overlooking the estuary of the River Nith and the huge expanse of the Solway Firth. There are only a few much lower hills around. It has a prominence of nearly 500m so it is really distinctive for miles around. It is the most prominent hill on this coastline when seen from the hills of Northern Cumbria across the Solway Firth. There is an excellent recently made path all the way from the car park at Ardwall Farm which is free but strongly recommends a donation to the Moffat Mountain Rescue Team. On a good day Criffel offers very good visibility for miles around.