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The bank of grey rubble that was the fort's wall on the summit of Tap o' Noth, with heather slopes and patchwork farmland running to distant hills below.
Aberdeenshire

Tap o' Noth

A steep hill walk near Rhynie to the summit of Tap o' Noth, about 560 metres high.

Welcome

Tap o' Noth is the cone-shaped hill you can see for miles around Rhynie, and the climb to the top is a real treat.

Its summit is ringed by the tumbled wall of an Iron Age fort. In places its stones have been fused together by fierce heat, most likely from timber in the wall catching fire. University of Aberdeen archaeologists have dated the fort to between 400 and 100 BC. Lower down, a second rampart circles the slopes. Inside it, the team's drone and laser surveys have found the platforms of some 800 huts, home to as many as 4,000 people. Radiocarbon dates place the settlement in the fifth and sixth centuries AD, so it was most likely Pictish. On a clear day the view reaches the Moray Firth, and Ben Rinnes stands out among the hills. Pick a dry day for it and wear good boots.

A little further outHuntly Castle17 min by roadSee itHuntly Castle
Before you go

Allow about two hours there and back.

Parking
A small car park at Brae of Scurdargue, on the A941 Dufftown road about 2.4 km north of Rhynie.
The path
About 5 km there and back: a track at first, then a steep, rough hill path to the summit.
Dogs
Under close control, as the Scottish Outdoor Access Code asks, and on a short lead near farm animals or ground-nesting birds.
Protected
A scheduled monument.

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Where it is

North-west of Rhynie, in Aberdeenshire.

Close byRhynie, Donside and Huntly.
  1. A Pictish stone at Rhynie, its incised symbols faint on the pink granite.Rhynie Pictish StonesThree carved Pictish stones by the old kirkyard at Rhynie, under Tap o' Noth.2 miles 3 min by road
  2. The roofless kirk of St Mary at Auchindoir among its gravestones and trees.St Mary's Church, AuchindoirA roofless church of the late 1200s near Rhynie, with a Norman doorway and a carved sacrament house.4 miles 6 min by road
  3. Leith Hall, pale harled walls and turrets, above its gravel drive.Leith HallA quirky National Trust house of 1650, seen by guided tour.6 miles 11 min by road
  4. Kildrummy Castle's D-shaped ruin seen from the air above its ravine.Kildrummy CastleThe great ruined castle of the Earls of Mar on Donside, built about 1250 above the ravine of the Black Den.9 miles 15 min by road
  5. The red front of the Dean's building on Depot Road in Huntly under its name.Dean's of HuntlyThe home of Dean's shortbread, with a bright bistro and a shop beside the bakery.10 miles 15 min by road
  6. The dining room at The Bank in Huntly, a wall of lit shelves of whisky above tables laid with linen.The Bank Café & RestaurantA café and restaurant in Huntly's former North of Scotland Bank, a granite building of 1842 by Archibald Simpson.10 miles 15 min by road
  7. The broken tower of Dunnideer Castle, a great window through it, on the grassy top of the hill.Dunnideer CastleA broken castle wall of around 1260 on a hilltop ringed by a fort of fused stone.10 miles 22 min by road
Directions
The dining room at Kildrummy Inn, with iron chandeliers under the beams, tables laid with glasses and candles and gilt-framed Highland paintings on the walls.RestaurantsKildrummy Inn8.6 miles
A stone farmhouse with dormer windows stands beside a picnic bench within a wooden fence enclosure.GlenkindieTornahatnachSleeps 5 · 11 miles
A stone house with three dormer windows and a yellow front door sits behind a lawn, terracotta pots flanking the entrance.GlenkindieGreenstyleSleeps 6 · 11 miles
A stone cottage with green-framed dormer windows and matching door stands behind a gravel drive, trees and open fields beyond.GlenkindieDalgrassickSleeps 4 · 11 miles
A stone farmhouse with a gabled dormer window sits behind a timber picket fence, trees shading the drive.GlenkindieHome FarmSleeps 6 · 11 miles
A stone farmhouse with a slated roof and green door sits behind a lawn, a timber garden room extending to one side.GlenkindieChapeltonSleeps 6 · 11 miles
Ruined stone castle towers rise above autumn trees and a grassy pathAttractionsHuntly Castle11 miles
Looking straight down on the Huntly Nordic and Outdoor Centre: the lodge, the white dry slope and the loop of the roller-ski track among autumn trees, the tubing lanes at the top.ActivityHuntly Nordic and Outdoor Centre11 miles
The Picardy Stone standing in its field near Insch, a rough whinstone slab.AttractionsThe Picardy Stone12 miles

Recommend to a friend

The Daily for 23 October, from Scotland with love. Aerial view of a concrete road bridge with angled supports spanning a sea loch, twin cloud-wrapped mountain peaks rising behind autumn-coloured hills.

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the hill, and when each is next free.

A stone farmhouse with a slated roof and green door sits behind a lawn, a timber garden room extending to one side.Chapelton
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Glenkindie
  • 9 miles from Tap o' Noth
Free 26–29 OctA stone farmhouse with a gabled dormer window sits behind a timber picket fence, trees shading the drive.Home Farm
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Glenkindie
  • 9 miles from Tap o' Noth
Free 28–31 OctA stone cottage with green-framed dormer windows and matching door stands behind a gravel drive, trees and open fields beyond.Dalgrassick
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Glenkindie
  • 9 miles from Tap o' Noth
Free 2–5 NovA stone house with three dormer windows and a yellow front door sits behind a lawn, terracotta pots flanking the entrance.Greenstyle
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Glenkindie
  • 9 miles from Tap o' Noth
Free 2–5 NovPlaces to stayEvery stay in AberdeenshireAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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