Lomond Hills Regional Park

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Paths and tracks in the Lomond Hills Regional Park, Fife

Introduction

The Lomond Hills Regional Park in the Fife Region of Scotland covers approximately 25 square miles of hills, moors, reservoirs and lochans. There are also a number of arable and livestock farms within its boundaries Link. In 1986 it was designated as Scotland's first regional park and is an easily-accessed outdoor resource for hillwalkers, ramblers, mountain bikers and all those who appreciate the great outdoors. Having roamed and explored this area for more than 40 years I believe I know the park well enough to document the paths and tracks within its boundaries and include them in a collaborative collection.

In making my contribution to this collection I have concentrated on those paths which I deemed to be actual hill paths and not low-level walks. This is an arbitrary definition on my part and is based on my perception of the ease with which a disabled person could access and negotiate any given path and how relevant a path is to a particular hill. This decision imposed certain limitations on the paths and tracks included here. In particular that network of low-level paths around and between the Centre for Stewardship in Falkland Estate and the Pillars of Hercules and the A912 have not been included nor have many of the footpaths and cycle routes lying on the lower northern slopes of both East and West Lomond.

Having said that I have included some low-level paths which don't directly access any of the three main hills of the park because of the excellent views they offer or simply because they are a favourite of mine!

I have included Bishop Hill and its associated paths and tracks in this collection even though much of it isn't even in Fife! Bishop Hill has many fine and interesting features and is a spectacular viewpoint for Loch Leven. Most people would consider it part of this group of hills and had it been within Fife Region it would certainly have been included in the regional park. It seems to me that omitting it would be doing it an injustice.

As well as paths and tracks I have also included some of the notable features of the park along with interesting geological or historical information.

We in Scotland are very fortunate in that the introduction of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 gives the public the legal right to roam more or less at will on what has become known as 'wild land'. With this privilege go certain responsibilities and everyone who enjoys wandering through the 'Great Outdoors' should be familiar with the Act and its associated access code Link.

Two sections

I have organised this collection into two sections. Section One contains my contributions to the collection all of which were taken in late 2017 or early 2018 and as such form a record of how the paths and tracks looked then. Section Two contains images contributed by other members and is open to any relevant image taken at any time past, present or future. If any member wishes to contribute images to this collection I ask that these be placed in Section Two using the same format as those images already contributed. I have further organised Section One into groups consisting of an access point and the paths and tracks leading from it. Each access point is given a separate heading (see table of contents). Inevitably, there is a certain amount of overlap of images especially when the paths from one access point connect with those from another or when one access point serves more than one route through the park.

Therefore, Section One of this collection consists of three main hills and their associated access points and upland paths and tracks along with significant or interesting features found along the way.

1. East Lomond (448 metres). Overlooking the village of Falkland it is commonly known as Falkland Hill;

2. West Lomond (522 metres). The highest point in Fife Region;

3. Bishop Hill (461 metres). Known locally as 'The Bishop' this hill is more of a high plateau than a distinct hill although it does have a definite summit.

Section Two consists of other relevant images of the regional park and the immediate area and are not limited by time or geographic position - any image of the Lomond Hills Regional Park (before or after it was so designated) can be included.

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