Edinburgh JMCS | Directions to local crags

Kirrie Hill


Map Ref         NO 392 546 (Landranger 54)
Lat/Long        56.679012, -2.998904
Distance        80 miles; 1 hour, 30 mins     (from the centre of Edinburgh)

From Edinburgh head north on the M90 to Perth, then continue along the A90 to the Dundee ring road. Follow this round Dundee until you turn left heading for Forfar (following the A90 all the way). Follow the A90 to Forfar, but then turn left onto the A926 towards Kirriemuir. Follow the A926 for two and a half miles to turn off right at Checkiefield onto an unclassified road. Continue for one mile until reaching a T-junction. Turn right then almost immediately left (signed 'Northmuir') and continue for just over half a mile until reaching a sharp right bend. At the bend, take the left branch onto West Hill Road (follow the signs for the camera obscura) and after 200m turn left onto the driveway leading to the camera obscura. Go past the camera obscura to the second car park by the cemetery - gravestones just visible over a 5 foot stone wall (at the base of the blue picnic table on the OS map).
This is just in front of a Peter Pan themed children's play area (if there are no children around to laugh at you, the zip-wire is excellent (childish) fun and worth having a go on....).

The left bay of the crag is under the 189 spot height on OS map, and the right area is marked by the arrow. To get to the crag, walk eastwards along the track, with the cemetery on your right (towards the 193 spot height on the OS map), then follow the cemetery wall round to the right and down the hill. When the wall veers right, turn left along a good path which brings you to the left bay of the quarry.

See Arbroath Sport Climbs for some photos and information about the initial bolting and routes at Kirrie Hill, and other crags in the area. However, this site no longer seems to be being maintained or updated).

Topos:
Scottish Sport Climbs, edited by Andy Nisbet, SMC, 2013
7a max: Scottish Sport, Sebastien Rider and Topher Dagg, 2015
NB: the topo photos in 7a max are woeful compared to those in the SMC guide (unless they have improved in the 2015 second edition).

Local interest:
If you run out of routes, or strength, you could have a look at the camera obscura - donated by J M Barrie, who lived in Kirriemuir, and is buried in the cemetery you walked past.

On a more contemporary note, Bon Scott also lived in Kirriemuir, which presumably inspired the names of the routes to the right end of the left bay
(if you haven't heard of Bon Scott, he was born in Forfar, brought up in Kirriemuir, emigrated to Australia when he was 6, became the lead singer with AC/DC and then died of an alcohol overdose - motto: 'I'm on the highway to hell, and I'm going all the way ...').

See here for more info on the camera obscura and Barrie (not Bon Scott - see here for him).