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Total distance – 7 kilometres

Ascent – 490 metres

Walking conditions – Good footpath with a generally gravel surface. No difficulties.

Time required – Around 3.5 to 5 hours

Nearest town – Biggar

Tinto is Lanarkshire’s tallest hill standing at a height of 707 metres. It is one of the most popular and well-loved hills in Scotland. Tinto was also earmarked as our 5 year-old daughter’s first reasonably sized hill that she would walk all the way up to the top of by herself. ie not carried by me at any point. This is not as cruel as it might seem. The start point is at a height of over 200 metres so it’s not as onerous as it sounds. As yet, we do not have similar expectations for our three year-old son. He’s not fit enough yet and has too much common sense to be coerced into such thirsty work. Anyway, to cut a long story short, our daughter triumphed and we are very proud.

After parking in the car park at the foot of the hill we set off on our 490 metre ascent and 3.5 Km long walk. The footpath is made up of gravel and sharp boulders with a couple of muddy bits thrown in, so boots are a must. The ascent is fairly gradual and you won’t be short of having features to identify and people to talk to as you make your way up on a clear day. You should reach the top within a couple of hours where you will be greeted by a trig point on top of a huge collection of boulders. Have a picnic and return by the same route. There are other possible descent routes but I stopped using them after the second time I got chased by a herd of cows. I have no idea why I didn’t learn my lesson after the first time. These cows have a bad attitude!

Route