This walk will always have fond memories for me as one of the first we took after being allowed to leave our local area as Covid restrictions eased in summer 2020. The walk takes you up through one of the many lovely glens in the Ochils, where if you are determined enough, you can climb up to the grassy hills and see some lovely views over Clackmannanshire, Fife, and Stirlingshire – depending on which glen you choose!
‘Determined enough’ may be a touch misleading as this really is not a particularly long or strenuous trail. Like most of the glen walks, it has a few steeper bits and a good climb or two, but even after a few months of Covid laziness we were able to make it without too much difficulty.
The walk starts in a good-sized car park and follows a lovely babbling burn through the trees as it climbs.
Aside: I confess to having a massive weakness for rocky rivers, though I come by it honestly after childhood holidays in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. There is always a part of my brain seeking a way to get across even though falling in is often more likely. Whether I attempt to cross or just snap plenty of pics, I am sure to at least stop, so you can be assured of more to come.
Another weakness is waterfalls – closely related to rivers really. This one is just visible on the map above, and was courtesy of my at-the-time brand new fancy camera which I splurged on after the first few months of lockdown during which I was still working like mad but spending very little.
As we climbed up out of the trees, we were met by clumps of gorgeous purple, and the view opened up behind us. Both of us were struggling with knee pain a bit, so we stopped to enjoy the view.
The ‘goal’ of this walk is to make it to Smuggler’s Cave (L) but the path does continue on up the glen (R). We found a good spot for lunch and had a picnic before heading back down again. Overall not a particularly long walk, and we saw more than a few families with young children at the start. Of the Ochil glens I have explored it isn’t my favourite but it was something new and definitely a good weekend wander, well-maintained and easy to follow.
The Wandering Medievalist 