Cameron Muir

Looking towards Ben Lomond from John Muir Way signpost on Cameron Muir.

Near Millfald.

The picture was taken from a track junction; another track branches off to the north-east there, but the main track, which is marked on the 1:25000 map, and shown in this picture, continues straight ahead (northwards). A view in the opposite direction includes the same posts, and shows the junction here: NS4682 : Forestry track junction.

The track leading straight ahead is marked on the 1:25000 map. The markers on the posts show that the John Muir Way continues in that direction. See NS4682 : Forestry track for a view in the opposite direction.

In the distance (about 180 metres ahead), the surface of the track becomes darker, at a NS4682 : Forestry track junction. For a similar but earlier (mid-2009) picture by another contributor, see NS4682 : Track disappearing into dense forest, which was clearly taken from about 20 metres further ahead. As noted there, the more southerly parts of the woods are increasingly dense, the darkness broken only where the path crosses forestry tracks (see NS4780 : Path crossing forestry track, for example). See NS4682 : Forestry track for a view in the opposite direction.

The 1:25000 map shows the track, and the bend at this point. See NS4682 : Forestry track for a view in the opposite direction.

After heading NNW for a few miles through the woods, the route emerges into the open at this point, though still flanked by trees on the east (the right), and there is a fine view from the path: Ben Lomond can be seen straight ahead, on the line of the path, with parts of Loch Lomond in front of it. A little to the left of it is a nearer small rounded hill, dark and wooded: it is NS4385 : The Dumpling (Duncryne Hill). The map shows the boundary of Forestry Commission land extending a little further to the west, and it might have been expected that there would have been trees to the left of the track here, but larger-scale mapping reveals that the currently-planted area does not extend right up to that boundary. At the extreme left of the image are several ranges of hills, one behind another; in increasing order of distance, the places at the far left edge of the picture are: Whinny Hill (NS3984, 4 miles); Tom na h-Airidh (NS2886, 11 miles); and Beinn Ruadh (NS1588, 19 miles).

Less than 50 metres of this track, which is marked on the 1:25000 map, passes through this grid square. The picture was taken from roughly the point where the track enters the square from the south, and is a view towards the point where it leaves on the east.

The John Muir Way leaves the woods here, and reaches Cameron Muir. There is a marker for that route on the gate; it turns left here, to head west. A different route heads right (east) at this point: a NS4683 : Track across Cameron Muir. The peak at the centre of the skyline, obscured a little by haze, is Uamh Bheag ("little cave", NN6911). A telecoms mast is on a nearer hill on the right, almost directly behind the rightmost gatepost in the picture: NS4884 : Aucheneck trig point, and telecoms mast. The bend in the path behind the gate is shown, from the other side of that turning, in NS4683 : The John Muir Way at Cameron Muir.

A marker on a gatepost beside the path shows that the John Muir Way makes a right turn here, to head south, passing through a gate that is out of shot to the right, but which is shown, from the other side, in NS4683 : Gate on the John Muir Way, where the same turning in the path can be seen. The route that carries on straight ahead (east) is a NS4683 : Track across Cameron Muir; the end-note refers to that route, which is distinct from the John Muir Way. The Campsie Hills are in the background, left of centre, and the more distant Fintry Hills are at the far left. Sometime after this picture was taken, a signpost was put up here at the turning: see NS4683 : Signpost on the John Muir Way, taken in 2020.

This gate is on two routes: one leading across Cameron Muir, referred to in the end-note, and, since March 2016, the John Muir Way, leading across the Kilpatrick Hills, and through Carbeth, to Strathblane.

The gate is shown from different angles in two earlier pictures: NS4583 : A short walk to Gallangad trig point. / NS4583 : Signpost for walk to Gallangad Muir. The signpost is for "Gallangad Muir Viewpoint". In the present picture, what seems to be a plastic lid has the following writing on it: "Be aware Cows, young calves & bull" I do not know how long that sign has been there. The area beside the path was occupied by sheep and lambs.

The road, if followed in this direction, leads from Wester Cameron Farm to the Horseshoe. The trees on either side of the road here are part of a strip of woodland that is depicted on the 1:25000 map. For the woods to the right (north), see NS4483 : Woods to the north of the road.

This is a view to the right (north) from the part of the road that is shown in NS4483 : Passing place; see that picture for context. As the 1:25000 map shows, a narrow strip of woodland, running N—S, is intersected by the road here.

The reservoir does not appear on the first-edition map (surveyed in 1860), but it is shown on the second-edition map (revised in 1896). The old reservoir is just a short distance to the east of the Cameron Burn, as shown on the 1:25000 map, and made apparent in a view in the opposite direction, NS4582 : Old reservoir. The line of the fence just ahead in the present picture is marked on the 1:25000 map. The reservoir itself is marked on the same map (but, oddly, not at some larger scales; at least, not at the time I am writing this). The cover shown here is oriented SE—NW. That the view direction for the present picture is north-west can be confirmed by using the distant peaks as a reference: Beinn Dubh (NS3395) is directly ahead, at the centre of the skyline, about 17½km (11 miles) away. Through a small gap just to its right is the top of the Cobbler (NN2505), almost twice as far away (30½km, 19 miles). Ben Lomond, considerably closer (22km, 13½ miles), is prominent on the right.

For a view in the opposite direction, and for more context, see NS4582 : Old reservoir. As noted there, the reservoir is first depicted on the second-edition map, revised in 1896. In the present view, the ground falls away not far ahead, along the tree-lined course of the Cameron Burn, as shown on the 1:25000 map.

The view is from a track, marked on the 1:25000 map, that is now part of the John Muir Way. The backdrop is the Campsie Hills, centre to right, with the more distant Fintry Hills at the far left. In the middle distance, Meikle Caldon Hill is on the left: NS4982 : Track to Meikle Caldon Hill. The green top of NS4982 : Little Caldon Hill can be seen on the right.