The Bunnet Stane – A Stone Mushroom Under the Lomond Hills
About 1.6 miles on foot.
On the quiet north side of the Lomond Hills there's a rock that looks like a mushroom, or a flat cap balanced on a stalk.
This is the Bunnet Stane, and getting to it is an easy hour's walk along field edges, there and back, with the steep face of West Lomond filling the view. There's a small cave cut into the rock underneath it, too.
- Time
- About an hour: 2.5 km (1.6 miles) there and back, 20 to 30 minutes each way, on grassy field edges.
- The path
- Grassy field edges, with a stile to cross and gaps in the walls.
- Where to start
- The lay-by beside the Scottish Water building on the minor road between Strathmiglo and Wester Balgedie, within sight of the wind turbine. No charge.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. Sheep graze the fields all year, so dogs stay on a short lead or under close control.
- Dogs
- On a short lead or under close control: sheep graze these fields.
- Children
- An easy hour on grass, with a rock to walk round and a small cave under it.
- Toilets
- None at the lay-by or on the walk.
- Before you set out
- Working sheep fields: keep to the edges and keep dogs on a short lead or under close control.
The walk
Park in the lay-by beside the Scottish Water building on the minor road between Strathmiglo and Wester Balgedie, within sight of the wind turbine. There's no charge. The walk to the Bunnet Stane and back is 2.5 km, about a mile and a half, and takes an hour. It keeps to the grassy edges of the fields beside a stone wall, heading for the steep north face of West Lomond, the highest hill in Fife.
The Stane stands at the foot of the slope. It's a flat cap of sandstone on a thin stalk, like a mushroom or a bonnet, and it was shaped that way by wind, water and ice over thousands of years. You can walk right up to it and all the way round. Cut into the rock beneath it is a small man-made cave called the Maiden's Bower, with a panel at its entrance that tells you more.
Sheep graze these fields, so keep dogs on a short lead or under close control, and keep to the field edges. There's a stile to cross on the way. The steep path that climbs the hill behind the Stane is a serious hill walk and no part of this one. There are no toilets and no shelter out here.
If it rains
There's no shelter on the way or at the rock, and the field edges are wet underfoot after rain. It's only an hour, so wait for a dry spell.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Murrayshall, 11 miles away.
Then Guardswell Farm in Inchture, 14 miles away. Sleeps 10.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Charles Costello via Google