DUMYAT STIRLING

WORDS AND PICTURES BY PETE SCULLION

PETE SCULLION TAKES A GOOD LONG LOOK AT THIS EASILY ACCESSED, YET OFT-OVERLOOKED SCOTTISH CLASSIC ABOVE STIRLING.

Anyone travelling north along the M9 past Stirling will have spotted Dumyat looming just above the Wallace Monument.

However, for anyone not that interested in the delights that hills and mountains offer, Stirling Castle and the aforementioned monument pull the eyes away from Dun Maeatae or ‘Dumyat’. This 418m peak may not be as grand as the bens of Lomond, Ledi, Venue and Vorlich – all of which are all visible as you approach Stirling – but there is far more to this hill than indicated by its vertical majesty.

Cocksburn. Oh how we laughed (and then grew up).

Dumyat’s south-facing side falls steeply into the Forth Valley, gouged flat and wide by a monumental sheet of ice that started life near the peaks mentioned above. The Ochil Hills, of which Dumyat is the most westerly, give an amazing view across the River and the Firth of Forth towards Edinburgh, over to the Gargunnock and Dumgoyne hills across the valley and to the Highlands proper to the north and west. It is because of this amazing vantage point that this route is not just a classic for mountain bikers, but anyone, it would seem, on a sunny weekend day.

As with any ‘classic’, there are multiple ways of going about it. Dumyat is a hill that can offer much more than just the open heathland that dominates its upper slopes. Many come up through, or via, Mine or Uni woods towards the summit, or take the longer, more gentle amble up past the Bridge of Allan golf course and past the ‘hilariously’ named Cocksburn Reservoir to the top. Any out-lap offers a similarly near-infinite combination of in-lap options, which is another great feature of Dumyat. Many might even push on beyond Dumyat towards Ben Cleuch, the tallest of the Ochil Hills. Regardless of the route chosen, the climb and descent of Dumyat itself is excellent in all conditions but best on a glorious sunny day.