A walk · Stranraer

The Merrick – Galloway's Highest Hill

8 milesa hill

free parking

The Merrick is the highest hill in the Southern Uplands, rising above Loch Trool deep in the Galloway Forest Park.

A good path climbs all the way from the shore, past a waterfall and over Benyellary to the top, where on a clear day the view runs to Arran, Ailsa Craig, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Lake District. It's a long, serious hill day for fit, well-prepared walkers.

Where it starts

Forestry and Land Scotland's Bruce's Stone car park on the north shore of Loch Trool, free: the road signed for Bruce's Stone just north of Glentrool village runs 4 miles straight into it; postcode DG8 6SU.

Directions to the start

Is it for me?

Tap who is coming, or the day you have, for the answer on this walk.

Before you go

On the path

Most of a day: 8 miles up and back, or five to six hours for the 9-mile loop. A good, often surfaced hill path with some steep sections; Bruce's Stone is a short stroll from the car park. A long, high hill walk of most of a day: for older children used to big hill days.

Good to know

Open hill at all hours in daylight and clear weather. The car park; the hill path and Bruce's Stone both start from it. None at the car park; the nearest, with accessible toilets, are at the Glentrool visitor centre 3 miles back, open only during café hours. From November to February set off by 9am. After snow the top is a winter mountain.

The walk

The Merrick, at 843 metres, is a climb of about 8 miles up and back the same way from Forestry and Land Scotland's Bruce's Stone car park on the north shore of Loch Trool. Allow most of a day, about six hours. The path is good and often surfaced, but steep in places, and the route isn't waymarked.

First, a short stroll from the car park brings you to Bruce's Stone, looking down the loch to the hills. It marks the Battle of Trool in 1307, when Robert the Bruce's men ambushed an English force walking along the far shore, and let fly a volley of stones.

The path for the Merrick climbs beside the Buchan Burn and its waterfall, past the Culsharg bothy (a simple hill shelter) and over Benyellary, 719 metres. Benyellary and the Merrick are the two southernmost fingers of the Range of the Awful Hand, a chain of five hills. A narrow neck of ridge joins them, and the path follows it on to the summit.

Take a map and compass, boots, waterproofs, warm layers and food, and turn back if the cloud comes down. In winter the days are short, and after snow it's a winter mountain. Check for ticks afterwards.

If it rains

The Merrick is no place in rain, wind or cloud: the top is high and open, and the view is the point. On a wet day walk the Loch Trool Loop instead, Forestry and Land Scotland's waymarked 9.2 km round the loch past Bruce's Stone (allow four hours), or save the hill for a clear day.