Kinpurney Hill – A Ruined Tower above Strathmore
About 3.4 miles on foot.
Kinpurney Hill stands on the north side of the Sidlaws above the village of Newtyle, and you can pick it out from miles away by the tall stone tower on its top.
The tower was built in 1774 and once used as an observatory, and it stands inside the bank and ditch of a much older hill fort. It's a short, steady climb with a big view over Strathmore at the end of it.
- Time
- An hour and a half to two hours: 5.5 km (3.4 miles) with 283 m of climb, on Walkhighlands' figures. A short, steady hill walk.
- The path
- Grass and earth hill paths with a steady climb.
- Where to start
- The car park on Commercial Street in Newtyle, beside Newtyle Park.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 12.30pm.
- Dogs
- Under close control.
- Children
- A short hill for children who are used to walking. Keep them off the stonework of the ruined tower.
- Toilets
- Public toilets on North Street in Newtyle, close to the car park. None after the village.
- Before you set out
- The tower is a roofless ruin. The summit is open to the wind.
The walk
Park in Newtyle, at the car park on Commercial Street beside Newtyle Park. There are public toilets close by on North Street, the last before the hill. Kinpurney Hill rises to the east of the village. Walkhighlands gives the walk as 5.5 km in all, or three and a half miles, with 283 metres of climb, and allows an hour and a half to two hours. It leaves the village beside an old mill stream in a wooded den, then comes out onto open hillside for the climb to the top.
The summit is about 345 metres above the sea. A single bank and ditch run round it, the remains of a hill fort that probably dates from the Iron Age, and inside them stands Kinpurney Tower. It was built in 1774 and used as an observatory, and it's now a roofless shell, so keep children off the stonework. A white trig pillar stands on the grass nearby. The view runs in every direction, and the best of it is north across the farmland of Strathmore to the Highland hills.
It's a steady climb on grass and earth paths, and the top is open to the wind. Keep dogs under close control on the hill. From November to January, set off by 12.30pm.
If it rains
The hill is open and the paths are grass and earth, so it's a walk for a dry day with clear air. In low cloud there's no view from the tower.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by mammy bee (Mammybee) via Google