Walking Highland Perthshire

This walking guidebook to Highland Perthshire has over 80 graded routes which explore the ridges, plateaus, glens and woodland of highland Perthshire. The mountains, or 'grassy green giants' include the 42 Munros, including Ben Lawers and Ben Adler, as well as 22 selected Corbetts, 15 smaller summits and the historic Atholl passes of Gaick and Minigaig - all within easy reach of Perth. 

The hills of highland Perthshire are spacious and soothing, a place to relax after the rigours of Scotland’s rocky north and west. But relaxation is relative, when Scottish hills are concerned. Perthshire’s mountains may be soft edged and noted for their wild flowers, but easy they are not. They are jolly green giants and, from Schiehallion to Atholl, from Rannoch to Ben Vrackie, there are a lot of them.

The nature of the landscape here results in heather and pebble-strewn plateaus and rounded ridges, with a break from the scrambling other Scottish ranges require. However, the lumpy tussocks and high heather can make walking strenuous even at lower levels. Each route is categorised by landscape; forest and riverside, moorland and hills or mountains, to help you gauge which routes fit your tastes and abilities. There is a real variety of skill levels catered for, from shorter walks on clear paths with little ascent, to day-long challenges with steep climbs and descents. Several routes also include pathless stretches and so require navigation skills, especially in bad weather.

Routes are grouped into ten geographical areas: Comrie and Crieff, Killin and Glen Lochay, Glen Lyon, Bridge of Orchy, Perth and Dunkeld, Aberfeldy, Tummel and Loch Rannoch, Rannoch Moor, Pitlochry and Blair Atholl and Drumochter. Information about places of interest along the way, as well as wildlife, geology and history are included, as are practical details on the deer stalking season, when to go, and getting around Highland Perthshire are also included.

• clusters of ascents described for some key summits: Ben Dorain, Ben Lawers, Beinn a’ Ghlo and Ben Alder
• ascents of 42 Munros and 22 Corbetts as well as a selection of low-level routes
• all illustrated with 1:50K and 1:100K mapping
   

Some people enjoy exploring in mountains that are badly mapped or not mapped at all. They should stay away from Highland Perthshire, as it has been excellently mapped – three times over. The mapping in this book for the shorter and lower routes is from the Ordnance Survey’s Landranger series at 1:50,000. For these low walks this book’s mapping may be all you need. For mountain walks, however, it’s advisable to have a larger map that shows escape routes, and the other glen you end up in when you come down the wrong side of the hill. This guide shows mountain routes on 1:100,000 scale maps.

Harvey’s excellent British Mountain Map: Schiehallion at 1:40,000 scale covers about half this book, south of Lochs Tummel and Rannoch, and west of Aberfeldy – so Schiehallion is in the top right corner. The map is beautifully clear and legible, marks paths where they actually exist on the ground, and does not disintegrate when damp. Harvey also cover Ben Lawers in their 1:25,000 Superwalker format.

The 1:50,000 Landranger mapping, as used in this book, covers this area on sheets 42 (Glen Garry & Loch Rannoch), 43 (Braemar & Blair Atholl), 50 (Glen Orchy & Loch Etive), 51 (Loch Tay & Glen Donart), 52 (Pitlochry & Crieff), 57 (Stirling & The Trossachs) and 58 (Perth & Alloa).

The Harvey maps mark fences and walls on the open hill, but not on the lower ground; Landranger doesn’t mark them at all. So if you’re planning complicated valley walks, you’ll prefer the OS Explorer maps, also at 1:25,000 scale. They are bulkier and less robust than the Harvey ones, and the contour lines are less legible. But if Harvey hadn’t done it better, they’d be excellent maps. Sheets 368 (Crieff, Comrie & Glen Artney), 369 (Perth & Kinross, one walk), 378 (Ben Lawers & Glen Lyon), 379 (Dunkeld, Aberfeldy & Glen Almond), 385 (Rannoch Moor & Ben Alder), 386 (Pitlochry & Loch Tummel) and 394 (Atholl) cover the ground.

Correction to the June 2013 printing

On the 'Location of Routes' overview map, the boundary marked is of the current Perth & Kinross District ('Perthshire') rather than the old county of Perthshire (which included Ben More and Ben Lui) as indicated.

October 2013

p315 Kinloch Rannoch information

Dunalistair Hotel: closed, in receivership Winter 2012

October 2015

Routes 30, 31, 32: Coire Achaladair now has a micro hydro scheme, with a smooth new track for the lower part of routes above Achallader farm.

'What a gem of a book. It is a model of accuracy, information, and mapping.It engenders interest in the geology and glaciation which formed our landscape, and the flora and fauna which inhabit it. Add to that judicious details of past and present human use, and you have full interest and fascination in the walks. The 80 routes are well chosen, well characterised in terms of distance and terrain, and described in considerable, accurate detail.

...All of this is included in a small volume, fit for the hand, rucksack or pocket, on leaded paper within plasticised covers.  It is thus a must for those who love our county. Armchair walkers need not leave the sofa; walkers will enjoy using it before, during and after their walks. 
I cannot recommend it highly enough.'

Read the full review.

Hamish McBride, Highland Perthshire News and Comment, June 2013

"Anyone who's ever done any walking in Scotland (and, indeed, just about anywhere in the world) will have come across Cicerone Guides for walkers. Meanwhile, that same audience will almost certainly have encountered the writing of Ronald Turnbull, whether in one or more of his many books about walking in Scotland or the Lake District (or further afield), or in magazines such as Lakeland Walker, TGO and Trail.

You'd expect the combination of Ronald Turnbull as author and Cicerone as publisher to come up with something pretty special when they turn their attention to Highland Perthshire, and we approached this book with high hopes. We were not disappointed. This is an outstanding little book, though whether "little" is a wholly appropriate description of a volume offering over 300 pages is open to debate."

Read the full review

Undiscovered Scotland, July 2013

It's astounding how much Cicerone's walking guides pack into a genuinely pocket-sized space. This one has 80 routes, clear maps and instantly noticeable symbols showing level of difficulty and time required - yet there's also a wealth of photographs and quirky facts, such as the number of Munros bagged by Queen Victoria (nine).

Scotland Outdoors, Autumn 2013