I honestly cannot recall the first time that I noticed the tower on Kinnoull Hill, standing out quite clearly as it does on the main road from Dundee to Perth. But, I do know that I have wanted to visit it and hike up to it for at least a decade and finally, last weekend, we did!
It came about strangely – we planned to go for a coastal walk in Tayport, but the roadworks on the Tay Bridge meant that we could not get down to Tayport at the normal exit. I suggested Broughty Ferry, but very soon we decided to try Perth, and this walk I have been planning for so long. I am quite pleased to report that, despite our parking in the wrong place, the hike did not disappoint.
Like many locations in Scotland, Kinnoull Hill has a series of well-kept and relatively easy to follow paths, criss-crossing the ancient volcano.
We parked at the location marked on this map but later realised that the Jubilee Car Park further along would probably be a better option; we were following Google and while she is usually quite reliable, she clearly was not aware of the parking situation here.
The start of the hike was relatively standard as we made our way up at a comfortable pace – the trail is clearly going uphill but it is not overly strenuous. With maps like the one above you never really know what you’re getting into in terms of distance, but we reached the view point in about 20 minutes or so, passing through some pleasant forest with patches of birch, lovely old beech trees and carved wooden animal sculptures along the way.
The view from the ‘Stone Table’ is absolutely fantastic, and boasts one of the most needless warning signs I’ve ever seen about the cliffs. You can see 180 degrees from impressive cliffs and the edge of Perth on the right to the hills of Fife and a hint of the tower to the far left.
There was no way we could be this close and not see the tower, so we headed off on the path that followed the cliffs – this one is quite steep in places with quite a bit of up and down, though there are viewpoints periodically along the way that are worth the extra energy required.
Then finally, we reached the tower which in and of itself is not particularly exciting, though the view is excellent. As one who is not overly fond of heights I struggled to follow the path that wraps around to the front of the tower, where there were groups of people resting and taking pictures, but I managed briefly before scurrying back to the safety of the path.
Once we had finished at the tower, we hiked back to the Stone Table viewpoint and sat for a while enjoying the view. Upon examining the map again we chose to continue the blue loop, which first took us to the summit of the hill.
I have to admit, I was really surprised by the view from the summit – I had assumed, for no valid reason at all really, that the best of the view was to the south. On the contrary, the top of Kinnoull Hill offers just as impressive views north, with the jagged peaks of the Highlands easily identifiable.
The faint hint of the mountains further north made me suddenly yearn desperately to be back up amongst them, so I hope I can plan a day trip before my next planned excursion in September.
The path back down to the car was sigificantly more pleasant in terms of surroundings – a bit more open, so fewer bugs, and more of a view into the trees and surrounding woodland. In the future, I would definitely park further along and take the red Tower Trail, which I imagine you could stretch to two hours if you wanted.
I am so pleased we ended up on this walk, and I will definitely be back to explore it again.
The Wandering Medievalist 