Walking in the Ochils, Campsie Fells and Lomond Hills

33 contrasting walks in central Scotland’s Ochils, Campsie Fells and Lomond Hills. Despite their proximity to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth, these three ranges remain a remarkably uncrowded wilderness area. Offer a mixture of moorland peaks, steep-sided glens, fast-flowing burns and lush woodland in a single day’s outing.

I have just recently purchased this book and done lots of walks from it and it really opened up my local hills to me. Previously there were many hills in the Campsies and the Ochils that I wanted to climb but couldn’t figure out a safe route to them from the OS maps but this outstanding book gives you detailed route information all following easy to identify features on the ground to use as navigational handrails, it is well written and uses extracts from the relevant OS maps to illustrate the routes.

There are many little known and little walked but spectacular hills featured here that you wont find in any other guidebook. At last an excellent guide book for the Campsies/Ochils and Lomonds. Congratulations to the author.

(Reviewed on Amazon.co.uk)

It is always good to see a walks guidebook covering lesser - and in many cases less-frequented hills.

The three hill groups described in Patrick Baker's guide stretch across Central Scotland, partly on the line of a geological fault. The highest point in all three is Ben Cleuch in the Ochils at 2365ft (721m) but this does not mean the hills are without drama: there are scarps and crags, wateralls and deep corries to be found by the enquiring walker, and all are well-covered here.

The Ochils are the most popular range and their grassy tops are well walked. But even here there are hidden corners such as Ben Thrush, which few walkers visit. The Lomond Hills are in this case the highest points in Fife, not the range above Scotland's most famous loch further west.

My wife and I road-tested the guide by going up Meikle Bin in the Campsies, a 1870 ft  (570m) hill we had looked at dozens of times but never climbed. Although the hill is skirted with forestry, we were promised "surprisingly open ground with unimpeded views" and we were not disappointed.

Patrick's directions were good and his comments on the landscape and surroundings were helpful and interesting. We went slightly wrong at one point but that was due to a new forestry track having appeared - a perennial problem for guidebook writers.

(tgo / August 06)

'It's clear the author knows his subject well and has tramped the hills described in this book very many times. His acquaintance, wisdom and knowledge of the three areas stand out proud.

The book is a bargain at £10 and for anyone planning to explore the three areas described, there is no better way than taking this book with you.'

(Scottish Mountaineer magazine / February 2007)