Lomond Hills

West Lomond
©2011 Gazetteer for Scotland

Dominating the skyline for miles around, the Lomond Hills separate the Kinross basin in the west from Fife in the east. The two highest peaks, which are of volcanic origin, are West Lomond (522m / 1713 feet) and East Lomond (448m / 1471 feet). The western scarp slope of the Bishop Hill, which overlooks Loch Leven, rises to 461m (1512 feet) and is capped by a volcanic sill of quartz dolerite overlying layers of sandstone and limestone of Carboniferous age. A freestanding column known as Carline Maggie is a feature of the quartz-dolerite outcrop. The limestone has been quarried, most notably at the Clatteringwell Quarry and there are numerous examples of old limekilns.

The Glen Burn flows northwestwards through Glenvale to join the River Eden at Burnside and the Arnot, Lothrie and Conland Burns flow southeastwards to enter the River Leven. Between 1865 and 1914 a number of reservoirs (Harperleas, Ballo, Drumain, Holl and Arnot) were created in the Lomond Hills to provide fresh water for the rapidly expanding towns of west Fife. Iron Age remains have been found on West and East Lomond and a fine example of a hill fort can be found midway between the two at Maiden Castle.

Included in Fife Regional Park, the hills are accessible from Pitcairn Centre (where park staff are based), Craigmead and East Lomond car parks.

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