Craignaw

Last updated

Craignaw
Craignaw.jpg
Highest point
Elevation 645 m (2,116 ft) [1]
Prominence 151 m (495 ft) [1]
Listing Ma,Hu,Tu,Sim, G, D,DN,Y [2]
Geography
Location Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Parent range Dungeon Hills, Galloway Hills, Southern Uplands
OS grid NX 45925 83332
Topo map OS Landranger 77

Craignaw is a hill in the Dungeon Hills, a sub-range of the Galloway Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Unlike many hills in the Southern Uplands, Craignaw has a complex and rocky summit area, with a long line of crags and rough ground on the east side. The hill is largely composed of granite. [3] Near the north end of the hill is an interesting area of terrain known as the "Deil's Bowlin' Green" where various rounded granite boulders are scatterd at random over an area of nearly horizontal granite slabs. These are believed to be glacial erratics or result from a similar glacier process. On the west side of the hill, near grid reference NX458831, a few hundred meters from the summit is an F-111E Aardvark crash site. The site is marked by a small memorial to the two U.S. Air Force pilots who were killed in the accident (Captains Spaulding and Hetzner). [4] Although the crash happened on 19 December 1979 there are still small amounts of aircraft debris in the area.

Contents

Walking

Craignaw is quite a remote hill and climbing it is a long and rough walk from the road-ends at either Craigencallie or Bruces Stane.

Craignaw Photo Tour – 29 images from the Bruces Stone Car Park to the Summit and Back via the Loch Valley Trail

Climbing

There is some good but short rock climbing on Craignaw at Snibe Hill, Memorial Crag and Scotland Slab. However, in winter after a good freeze the broken ground on the east side of the hill has some of the best ice climbs in Southern Scotland with routes of up to 150 m in length. [5] The most famous of these is the frozen waterfall of the Dow Spout.

Related Research Articles

Scafell Pike Highest mountain in England

Scafell Pike is the highest and the most prominent mountain in England, at an elevation of 978 metres (3,209 ft) above sea level. It is located in the Lake District National Park, in Cumbria, and is part of the Southern Fells and the Scafell massif.

Cairngorms Mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland

The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national park on 1 September 2003. Although the Cairngorms give their name to, and are at the heart of, the Cairngorms National Park, they only form one part of the national park, alongside other hill ranges such as the Angus Glens and the Monadhliath, and lower areas like Strathspey.

Scafell

Scafell is a mountain in the English Lake District, part of the Southern Fells. Its height of 964 metres makes it the second-highest mountain in England after its neighbour Scafell Pike, from which it is separated by Mickledore col.

Great Gable Mountain in the United Kingdom

Great Gable is a mountain in the Lake District, United Kingdom. It is named after its appearance as a pyramid from Wasdale, though it is dome-shaped from most other directions. It is one of the most popular of the Lakeland fells, and there are many different routes to the summit. Great Gable is linked by the high pass of Windy Gap to its smaller sister hill, Green Gable, and by the lower pass of Beck Head to its western neighbour, Kirk Fell.

Fairfield (Lake District) Fell in the English Lake District

Fairfield is a fell in the English Lake District. It is the highest of a group of hills in the Eastern Fells, standing to the south of the Helvellyn range.

Great Dodd

Great Dodd is a mountain or fell in the English Lake District. It stands on the main ridge of the Helvellyn range, a line of mountains which runs in a north-south direction between the lakes of Thirlmere and Ullswater in the east of the Lake District. Great Dodd, with a height of 857 m is the highest of the fells in this range to the north of Sticks Pass.

Aran Fawddwy

Aran Fawddwy is a mountain in southern Snowdonia, Wales, United Kingdom. It is the highest point of the historic county of Merionethshire. It is the only peak in Wales outside North Snowdonia above 900m, and higher than anywhere in Great Britain outside Northern Snowdonia, the Scottish Highlands and the Lake District. The nearest urban centres to the mountain are Dinas Mawddwy to the south, Llanymawddwy to the southeast, Llanuwchllyn on the shores of Bala Lake to the north, and Rhydymain to the west. The nearest settlements with around 2,000 people are Bala and Dolgellau. On the eastern slopes of Aran Fawddwy is the small lake named Creiglyn Dyfi, the source of the River Dyfi. Its sister peak is Aran Benllyn at 885 metres (2,904 ft). There is also a middle peak- Erw y Ddafad-ddu.

Merrick (Galloway) Mountain in the Range of the Awful

The Merrick, or simply Merrick, is a mountain in the Range of the Awful Hand, a sub-range of the Galloway Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. The summit elevation is 843 metres, making it the highest mountain in the Southern Uplands and southern Scotland.

Southern Uplands Southernmost and least populous region of Scotland

The Southern Uplands are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas. The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to collectively denote the various ranges of hills and mountains within this region. An overwhelmingly rural and agricultural region, the Southern Uplands are partly forested and contain many areas of open moorland - the hill names in the area are congruent with these characteristics.

Clough Head

Clough Head is a fell, or hill, in the English Lake District. It marks the northern end of the main ridge of the Helvellyn range and is often walked as part of the ridge walk. The fell stands south of the village of Threlkeld and the A66 road, and it forms the steep eastern side of the tranquil valley of St John's in the Vale.

Broad Law

Broad Law is a hill in the Manor Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. The second-highest point in the Southern Uplands and the highest point in the Scottish Borders, it has an elevation of 840 metres, a prominence of 653 metres and an isolation of 81 kilometres. It is only 3 m (10 ft) lower than its parent, Merrick. Like many of its neighbours it is smooth, rounded and grassy, although the surrounding glens have very steep sides — country somewhat akin to the Cheviots or the Howgill Fells. The hill is most easily climbed from the Megget Stane to the south, beginning at an elevation of 452 m (1,483 ft), but is also frequently climbed from the villages near its base, or as part of a long, 50 km (30 mi) trek across the local area between the towns of Peebles and Moffat. On the summit is the highest VOR beacon in the UK, and also a radio tower.

Mountains and hills of Scotland

Scotland is the most mountainous country in the United Kingdom. Scotland's mountain ranges can be divided in a roughly north to south direction into: the Scottish Highlands, the Central Belt and the Southern Uplands, the latter two primarily belonging to the Scottish Lowlands. The highlands eponymously contains the country's main mountain ranges, but many hills and mountains are to be found south of these as well. The below lists are not exhaustive; there are countless subranges throughout the country.

Dow Crag Fell in the Lake District, Cumbria, England

Dow Crag is a fell in the English Lake District near Coniston, Cumbria. The eastern face is one of the many rock faces in the Lake District used for rock climbing.

Ben More Assynt

Ben More Assynt is a mountain in Assynt in the far north-west of Scotland, 30 kilometres north-northeast of Ullapool. The name translates as "big mountain of Assynt", and with a height of 998 metres it is the highest point in Sutherland.

Cairnsmore of Fleet

Cairnsmore of Fleet is an isolated mountain in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. The mountain forms an unafforested granite massif, whose highest point is about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of Newton Stewart. It is the highest of the "Solway Hills" sub-range, and the southernmost of Scotland's 219 Grahams, thus making it, or rather its subsidiary top, Knee of Cairnsmore, the most southerly mountain in Scotland. The view to the south takes in the Cree Estuary and Wigtown Bay, and extends as far as the Lake District, the Isle of Man and Snowdonia. The highest summits of the Galloway Hills can be seen to the north, and Ireland is in the view to the west.

The Central Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Reaching their highest point at High Raise, they occupy a broad area to the east of Borrowdale. The Central Fells are generally lower than the surrounding hills, the Lake District's dome-like structure having a slight dip in the middle. The range extends from the boggy ridge between Derwentwater and Thirlmere in the north, to the rock peaks of the Langdale Pikes in the south.

Cairnsmore of Carsphairn

Cairnsmore of Carsphairn is a hill in the Carsphairn and Scaur Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. An alternative name, rarely used nowadays, is Cairnsmore of Deugh. It is the highest hill in the range, and its summit is just under six kilometres northeast of Carsphairn village as the crow flies, in the far north of Kirkcudbrightshire.

An Ruadh-stac

An Ruadh-stac is a Scottish mountain situated in the Wester Ross region of the Highland council area. It is located 26 km north east of Kyle of Lochalsh.

White Coomb

White Coomb is a hill in the Moffat Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Its broad summit is the highest point in the range and the registration county of Dumfriesshire, as well as being the fourth highest point in southern Scotland, however, despite this, it is largely concealed by other hills on all sides except its east and south east, making this the only direction from which its full scale can be seen.

Dungeon Hill (hill)

Dungeon Hill is a hill in the Dungeon Hills, a sub-range of the Galloway Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Although it is the lowest of the three main hills along the ridge, it lends its name to the range. Normally climbed as part of a round of the Dungeon Hills and, occasionally, the Range of the Awful Hand, some ascents also begin from the east at Backhill of Bush bothy over the Silver Flowe, however the terrain is extremely demanding from this direction.

References

  1. 1 2 "Craignaw". www.hill-bagging.co.uk.
  2. "Database of British and Irish Hills: user guide". www.hills-database.co.uk.
  3. Geological Map of Scotland
  4. "That page does not exist!!". www.f-111.net. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  5. John Biggar. "Craignaw Ice". Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.

Coordinates: 55°07′12″N4°25′05″W / 55.12005°N 4.41793°W / 55.12005; -4.41793