Walking Dumgoyne, Campsie Fells

Walking up Dumgoyne with my dog

I’m off for Christmas and really enjoying some time off.  But from going to 4-5 walks a day to suddenly none takes a bit off getting used to and for the last few days I’ve been dreaming of walking somewhere new, interesting and dog friendly as walking at Boden Boo or trailing the mutts in Erskine is my day job.  So, since I knew it was to be dryish for Sunday and after a bit of research, I decided on visiting Dumgoyne – and it’s only 40 minutes away!

I’m always a bit unsure how to dress for hill walking.  I’ve worn too much and overheated and other times I’ve worn too little and spent the walk freezing.  So today I wore plenty of layers and brought a rucksack so I could take layers off if I needed to.

Arrival

With the odd wrong turn it took about an hour to arrive to the car park opposite the Glengoyne distillery, but once out of the car all we had to do was cross the road and the walk started immediately.  Ruby was delighted as most dogs are when they visit somewhere new and went on a run of discovery.  But being a good girl, she never strays too far and always comes when I call her.  They were sheep roaming as we were walking Dumgoyne hill but Ruby’s good around livestock and they kept out of the way, but if you decide to bring your dog then take a slip lead just in case.  We met quite a few dogs that had to remain on the lead.

Dumgoyne is just a short walk and only 427m high, but it’s steep and intense and it’s like climbing stairs for the 50 minutes it took to reach the summit.  It can be quite disorientating walking up a steep slope, and my wellies weren’t the best footwear to be walking up muddy, slippy slopes, and my amazing Salomon hiking boots would have been much better considering how steep it was.

It wasn’t long before I had to take off my jumper and put it on my rucksack but glad I brought it because the thing about hillwalking is, you get very warm and sweaty on the way up but once you’re at the top and stop moving all that heat goes and the sweat chills you down very fast.  After 5 minutes I suddenly could feel the chill in the wind and my hands became cold so was glad I had my jumper and gloves in my bag.

I stopped for a quick cuppa and spoke to an experienced hill walker.  He pointed out all the hills in the distance and the areas of Glasgow and told me that on a clear day you can even see Arran.

On the way back down it was a lot easier but so steep that it took a lot of leg muscle to keep myself upright and from slipping and my legs began to turn to jelly as they struggled.  We passed quite a few walkers heading up and cause it’s not such a big walk they were families including children.

Walking up and down Dumgoyne in the Campsie Fells with a short lunch break took about 2 hours, giving me plenty of the day left.  It’s great for families, kids and dogs (if dogs are good around livestock).

Dog Walking at Dumgoyne in pictures:

How to get to Dumgoyne & Notes

Dumgoyne height: 427m

Duration: 50 minutes to get to the top. 2 hours in total.

Parking: Car park opposite Glengoyne distillery

Clothes: Layers, gloves, hat and hiking boots are advisable