Issue 156 – Pete’s Peaks

Pete brings us a selection of climbs (and descents) worth bagging, even if they’re not on a fashionable to-do list of must-do mountains.

Words Pete Scullion, photography Pete Scullion and as credited

Since the late 1980s, Munro bagging has become a popular pastime, well over a century after Sir Hugh Munro completed his Munro Tables of 914 (3,000ft +) Scottish peaks and the first confirmed round was complete. The human condition is to climb the taller peaks, as Sir Edmund Hillary quipped when asked why he wanted to climb Everest: “Because it’s there.”

With so many people nowadays keen to show off distance and elevation stats in their never-ending quest to wrest some validation for what they’ve done from the hive mind of the internet and its daemons, plenty of lesser hills are overlooked. Many of these smaller peaks sport hidden gems in terms of views afforded or sumptuous singletrack for the ages. It’s not often that mountain bikeable trails make it to a summit. They’re more likely to cross the saddle of a hill, missing the top completely, before disappearing down the other side, but many smaller hilltops are indeed baggable by bike. If you’re a summit collector, as I am, then you’ll doubtless have ticked off the more obvious ones like Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa and Helvellyn already, so we’ve omitted them in favour of some lesser-known summits to fill your I-Spy book with.

So if you’re not at Munro bagging levels yet or just fancy something slightly less strenuous then this is the list for you. A collection of hills that offer plenty in terms of bang for your buck but with less output required to achieve, while still being worthy of your time.

Wales has no shortage of high ground and lofty summits but between the classics and other honeypots, access issues restrict riders to but a few options beyond the valley floors and lower mountain passes.

Cadair Idris/ Penygadair

• Popular For A Reason
• Proper Pokey Profile

892.7m / 2929ft. GR: SH 71117 13039

Cadair (or Cader in the local dialect) Idris (meaning Seat of Idris or Idris’ Chair), this 893m mountain is not for the faint of heart. Classified as a Marylin, a Hewitt and a Nuttall depending on your persuasion, it is 21m short of Munro height.

Key among Cadair Idris’ popularity though is that it is the tallest peak that you can legally ride 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Yes, you can ride Snowdon which is taller and has more descent options, but there’s an agreement that riders avoid it during peak summer hours. Between the 1st of May to the 30th of September, between 10am and 5pm, riders are asked to respect the Voluntary Cycle Agreement and stay off Snowdon.

Just over ten miles out and back, Cader isn’t a long ride in terms of distance, but you will have climbed very nearly the mountain’s full height on the outlap as the start point at the chapel in Llanfihangel-y-Pennant is only a gnat’s whisker over sea level. Starting on tarmac in the valley floor, this turns into a well-graded gravel track before becoming a wilder and less manicured farm track that turns increasingly rocky and weather-beaten to the point where it joins the Minffordd Path and swings towards the summit. Rock becomes king as you near the summit but if you’ve to get off and push, you’ll be welcomed by ever better views of the Mawddach Estuary and the Irish Sea beyond. Bear in mind that you’ll feel the full ferocity of the weather once on the summit approach and you’ll see it coming across Cardigan Bay.

Once you’ve made the most of the well-built shelter at the summit and seen off the very brazen sheep who will definitely want your lunch, it’s a case of heading back down the way you came, avoiding punctures at the top and daring to let go of the brakes once you’re on the farm track.

BERWYN

• Don’t Underestimate It

832m / 2730ft. GR: SJ 07165 32355

While not technically a summit, Berwyn offers up about as much altitude as you can legally ride in Wales. Berwyn and more specifically the saddle of Bwlch Maen Gwynedd tops out at near as makes no difference 700m above the sea. This gap is made up of the nearby peaks of Cadair Bronwen and Cadair Berwyn at 784m and 832m respectively. The hills here are better known for the alleged UFO incident in 1974 which turned out to be the rather coincidental combination of a small magnitude earthquake and a particularly bright meteor.

Unlike Cadair Idris, until you reach the view east into England, you’ll mostly be contending with grass, heather and bogs. Like its taller sibling, you’ll also be at the mercy of the elements that will roll in from the south-west, but you should see it coming. The eastern side of the hills are flanked by steep crags. Nothing like the ones on Cadair Idris but still not ones you’d want to fall off.

Scotland

Generous access laws and hundreds of summits over 2,000ft in Scotland make narrowing this list down to the ones featured below far from straightforward. This is a selection of those that offer something to whet your mountain appetite or something you might not have considered.

Ben Ledi

• Popular For A Reason
• Worth It For The Descent

879m / 2884ft

GR: NN 56239 09770

A personal favourite owing to the fact that it’s very close to my house. Its proximity to Scotland’s Central Belt also makes it popular. For this reason, and to keep the trail conflict to a minimum, I usually attack it for sunrise or sunset, the vantage point of the summit giving views to the Forth Bridges and the Wallace Monument to the east, the Arrochar Alps to the west and the Lawers Range to the north-east. Sometimes the best way to see the big hills is to go up a smaller one. Ledi is this to a T.

My favourite way to tackle this, the third tallest hill in this list at 897m making it 17m short of Munro status, is a horseshoe climbing up Stank Glen and down the main walker’s path. Do not be tempted by the Stob Dubh climb on the hill’s western face. It’s steep as all hell and you’ve still to cross plenty of bog to meet the top of Stank Glen, ominously named Bealach nan Corp or ‘Pass of the Dead’.

Start at the Ben Ledi car park, pass the lodges on the road and climb the fire road to the walkers’ path until the fence line. This is where the hikeabike starts. Once on Mullach Buidhe, you’ll be back on the pedals and can enjoy a rattle off the top at warp speed. There’s little cover anywhere on the hill, so go prepared. You’ll notch up 15 miles and 2,500ft in both directions.

Refuel at the Ben Ledi cafe on the main street or brave the queues across the road at Mhor Bread. Both offer some quality options for a recharge.

Beinn Damh

• Remote And Wild
• 360° Views
• Worth It For The Descent

903m / 2963ft

GR: NG 89265 50189

The reason behind the name The Stag Mountain becomes abundantly clear if you try this oft-overlooked Torridon classic in September or October as that’s when angry venison bark at each other across the hillside. At 903m it is a big enough hill but far from the Titans of Torridon across the glen to the north.

Much in the same vein as Ledi, this is a smaller hill that is the perfect vantage point to enjoy the grandeur of Liathach and Beinn Alligin as well as the more distant Cuillins. The ride itself starts next to Loch Torridon, a sea loch, in a wonderful wood of Scots pine above a steep ravine. A fork in the well-made stalkers’ path leads above the treeline and into the corrie. Above here it’s hill path but mostly firm underfoot and increasingly rocky. The summit is a mighty place to see this part of Scotland from, with views to the Inner Sound between the mainland and Raasay, and the North Sea beyond. The summit approach looks like the approach to an abyss as the floor of the glen to the west sits some 700m below.

Enjoy the ever-increasing flow of the return leg. Over the seven-mile out and back, you’ll climb the full height of the hill but at a fairly consistent gradient. You’ll be spat out onto the road almost at the door of The Torridon, so be sure to head inside for some of their local food and drinks of various strengths.

Dùn Caan/Dùn Cana

• Remote And Wild
• 360° Views
• Feels Bigger Than It Is

444m / 1457ft

GR: NG 57918 39483

A trip to ride Dùn Caan is enough in itself, let alone what the ride provides. Raasay sits between Applecross and Skye and is essentially Scotland in miniature. A ferry ride is the only way to access the island and it’s easier to park at Sconser and take your bike on the ferry, just don’t miss the last boat back or you will be up a very wide creek with less than no paddle.

You climb the entire height of Dùn Caan from the pier, with the opening stint taking in what little tarmac actually exists on the island. Just do yourself a favour and look up Calum’s Road – it is a legendary story of island lore, showing the grit and determination of one man.

Once off the road, this out and back is a treat. The lower slopes are mostly rideable before you pass a small lochan. The closer to the summit you reach, the less rideable it gets. Once on the flat top of Dùn Caan, you’ll have to keep an eye on the time for the last ferry, and the other on the views that will never get old. Applecross and Torridon to the east, the Cuillin and Trotternish ridges to the south-west and north-west, and the rest of north-west Scotland in every other direction.

Ten miles out and back with 2,500ft up and down punches hard but gives you back so very much. Stop in at the Isle of Raasay Distillery for some whisky and gin, but for the love of god, don’t miss the ferry.

Dumyat

• Popular For A Reason
• Don’t Underestimate It
• Feels Bigger Than It Is
• Worth It For The Descent

419m / 1375ft

GR: NS 83542 97689

At only 418m in height, Dumyat is one of Scotland’s smaller offerings but punches well above its weight despite this. You can drive up most of it, should the need arise. This isn’t to say you can drive off-road but there is a road that passes the actual hill path start. Anyone else can choose to climb the hill from Bridge of Allan where the steep faces of Dumyat’s southern flank make this a punchy number indeed.

Scoured by the ice shifting seaward millennia ago, the northern flank of the Forth Valley here is steep. Very steep. The rolling hills of the Ochils to the north are anything but. Whatever way you get to the hill path, the going here is relentless – steep punches separated by bottom gear winching make it more of a slog than it should be. The view across the whole of southern Scotland is worth it though.

In the wet, the descent is a tricky mistress, even though the path has been rebuilt in places. In the dry, it’s fast – very fast. If you’ve winched from Bridge of Allan, you can also take in the Mine and Uni woods for maximum effect. Just make sure to eat at The Hideaway afterwards.

Meikle Bin

• 360° Views
• Overlooked And Quiet
• Feels Bigger Than It Is

570m / 1870ft.

GR: NS 66722 82172

Sitting on the outer edge of the Carron Valley forest and, therefore, its trail centre trails, Meikle Bin is a cracking way to reach beyond trail centre offerings and try your hand at a hill proper. At 570m it’s not huge but it’s not small either and if you start at the trailhead, you’re already almost halfway up it.

With Meikle Bin being the highest peak for miles around, any clear day up here will afford you views across the Central Belt to the Pentland Hills to the south, the Kilpatricks to the west, and the imposing start of the Highlands to the north.

It’s not a particularly technical ride by any means, but a fast and open blast off the top takes you back to the safety of the fire road you got here on. Beyond the protection of the tall Sitka plantation, the open hill will afford you little cover should the weather turn. Luckily, you’ll be able to see most of that weather coming.

The Fintry Inn has its own microbrewery and is the home of Uncharted Whisky. They also do some pretty nifty food.

Lomond Hills

• Two Peaks For The Price Of One
• Feels Bigger Than It Is

448m / 1470ft. GR: NO 24410 06187

522m / 1713ft. GR: NO 19732 06632

No, not Ben Lomond. The Lomond Hills are in Fife and comprise East and West Lomond on the northern extremity and Bishops Hill, or simply, The Bishop, on its southwest flank. Sporting plenty of iron age hillforts as well as some more recent mining and forestry operations, these hills rise above what is otherwise flat Fife peninsula. The prominent pairing of these hills also gives rise to their local title: the Paps of Fife.

At 434m and 525m tall for the East and West Lomonds respectively they’re far from large in the grand scheme of things, but both are in stark contrast to their surroundings. They are popular, being on the outskirts of Glenrothes and not far from Perth or Edinburgh, so expect to see plenty of folk out on the weekends.

If you were to park by the old quarries in Craigmead car park that lies in between the two hills, you’d start halfway up both, taking in an out-and-back for both before building into the larger loops that the area can offer. Most of the paths that lead up to the hills themselves are on various types of track with steep kicks up the tops themselves where, on a clear day, you can see out across most of this part of eastern Scotland.

Having half of one of these offerings in Scotland feels a little cheeky, but most of England’s good summits are revered Lakeland classics and beyond that, there are few bridleways that reach the peaks.

Windy Gyle

• Rideable Both Ways
• Easier Than It Looks

619m / 2031ft. GR: NT 85538 15210

A hill that lives up to its name and also has the unique distinction of being on the Scottish–English Border. The tallest legally rideable peak in the Cheviot Hills, Windy Gyle has a sizeable summit cairn where you can shelter from the wind you know will be coming. Otherwise, you’re at the mercy of the elements in both directions in this part of the world.

Whether you ascend from Scotland starting at Cocklawfoot or England from the Coquet Valley, it’s a long, steady winch on what is mostly farm tracks that the grass is taking over, with some surprise ruts hidden in the undergrowth for good measure. It’ll be the legs that have you walking rather than the terrain. Just prepare yourself for the rocket sled fast descent whichever way you head for home.

Should you start in Scotland, treat yourself to lunch at The Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm, or if you’re finishing in Northumberland, the Rose & Thistle is the place to be.

Black Combe

• 360° Views
• Proper Pokey Profile
• Worth It For The Descent

600.2m / 1969ft.  GR: SD 13543 85486

William Wordsworth described this peak as having the “amplest range of unobstructed prospect may be seen that British ground commands”. Rising straight out of the Irish Sea to a lofty height of almost 600m, Black Combe offers a cracking loop, climbing its western face before plummeting down its steeper, south-eastern ridge. You could also go up and down the ridge if you so wished – both are excellent paths. A good sunset might even see you going up and down the western flank. Plenty of options. Like its neighbours in the Duddon Valley, it’s mostly missed the honeypot ranking of other hills and should, therefore, be an excellent option for those looking to slip the crowds, especially other riders. With that though, comes the punch that this hill packs. In just over two miles, you’ll have climbed 2,000ft. Steep enough that if you keep moving, you’ll soon find yourself well above the Irish Sea and the rat race below. The summit is flanked on its eastern edges by some impressive crags and corries that only amplify the feeling of altitude compared to the ground you started on. There are rumours of golden eagles being spotted around Old Man of Coniston and if so, you might get lucky and spot one of these massive raptors coasting on the thermals here.

Head to Kirksanton and the King William IV Inn for some cracking pub fare on your way home.

Meldon Hill

• Feels Bigger Than It Is
• Great Views

767m / 2516ft. GR: NY 77166 29080

Sitting on the eastern extremity of Dartmoor National Park, Meldon Hill might not be even the tallest hill in Dartmoor but it does sit apart from the rest of the mass of Dartmoor’s taller offerings. At 390m it’s the smallest hill on this list but a great way to start your journey into riding bigger hills, especially if you don’t live anywhere near the northern reaches of the UK.

The best place to start is in South Zeal – take a short ride on the road to Sticklepath and there are a few bridleways between both villages up to the one that goes up to the summit. It’s the same route back down and then choices of bridleway for you to the car park in South Zeal. The routes are classic Dartmoor fare, fairly hard packed, with rocks, mud, roots, some fast descending to be had, but also some technical stuff.

A few offer some sweet singletrack, and also some wider sections that follow old horse and cart tracks that access the old dry stone wall fields. The climb is about 350m vertical from the road to the summit, a bit of a push on a normal bike or all-goer on an ebike. Look out for the multiple false summits that trick you into thinking you’re almost there.

There’s a fair bit of elephant grass on the ascent and the route up is strangely harder to follow than when you’re coming off the top. It’s worth every penny for the 360° view from the stone circle at the top. Just watch the weather as you’ll have nowhere to hide.

Head up the hill to Belstone for The Tors Inn after a lap for the view alone.

What have we missed?

Here ends our riding tour of UK summits. It’s by no means a complete list of hilltops with rights of way to the top, but there may be some you’ve not thought of, and it might spur you on to try something out of the ordinary in addition to the regular classics. After all, you can’t complete the set until you’ve bagged every summit. Got your own suggestions for us to look at for next time? As always, we’ll see you on the singletrackworld.com forum!