A day out walking in the lovely Luss hills

Loch Lomond from the Luss Hills

Its another beautiful day at Appletree Cottage!

Today we fancy a walk - something moderate and within easy reach.  
We see the Luss hills in the distance almost every day we're out in the car.  Today is the day to explore them further.

From Appletree Self Catering Cottage to Luss

Luss is a pretty estate village on the western shore of Loch Lomond.  There is little traffic and a wander through the village is very popular with tourists. 
From Appletree Cottage we drive to Croftamie then along the A811 to Balloch.  We travel straight through Balloch and up onto the A82 towards Crianlarich.  After another fifteen minutes we see a turn off to Luss on the right.  Shortly after this on the left is a single track road signposted Glenn Luss.  We turn into this single track road and park on the right - just opposite the Faerie Trail experience ​(A fairy forest trail for younger children, website at: https://www.lochlomondfaerietrail.com)   
Close to where we parked (no charge) and on the same side of the road is the beginning of a path to Ben Dubh with a signpost pointing the way.

Signpost point the way to the Beinn Dubh path

Signpost point the way to the Beinn Dubh path from the other side of 'kissing gate'

A short flight of stone steps take us up to a gate at the foot of the path to Beinn Dubh summit.

The first part of the path is a brief gentle ascent through pasture, shortly after followed by a meandering trail through a young birch wood with high bracken on the upper reaches.

First part of the path up to Beinn Dubh, the peak of which can be seen in the sunshine on the far left

Gate on the Beinn Dubh path leading into the birch wood

,After about ten minutes we were clear of the birch trees and the land opened out into heather and grass land.  As we climbed the views across Loch Lomond grew more spectacular with the definition of the many islands becoming clearer.  We could see the pretty village of Luss nestling on the shore below us. 
In the picture below the small island just off Luss is Fraoch Eilean.  Tradition has it that if you caused trouble you could end up on Fraoch island.  In one map of 1792 plan of Dunbartsontshire Fraoch Eilean is marked as "Luss Prison"

Looking down on the village of Luss. The island just off shore is Fraoch Island, at one time served as Luss Prison

On our best behaviour we continue our steady climb upwards.  The path is well established and easy to follow.  It is obviously a popular route but even though we are walking during the peak of the summer holidays, on a weekend and in clear sunny weather we encounter only a handful of people during the entire expidition.

As we gain height the views become ever more spectacular

After a couple of false summits we reach the cairn at the top of Beinn Dubh (black hill)  From there the views are fantastic.  We can see Glasgow to the south, Loch Lomond and its many islands with the distinctive Conic hill to the east with the towering magnificent mountain of Ben Lomond further up the loch.  To the north we can see some of the famous “Arrochar Alps”.

Some rain clouds appear to the west as we near the summit cairn of Beinn Dubh

Looking west from the summit of Beinn Dubh we can see an enticing horseshoe of hills.  A glance at the map showed us that a walk across to Beinn Ruisg then round to Balcnock and descending via Craperoch could be achieved with minimal rise or fall.  However, also to the west we can see some dark rain clouds creeping in from the distance so decide to make our descent back to Luss with a plan to tackle the horseshoe another day when we were better prepared.

Looking north from the summit of Beinn Dubh towards the hills around Arrochar known locally as "The Arrochar Alps"

We make it back down to the bottom of the hill, safe and dry.  Fortunately the rainclouds did not affect us.
All in all a fantastic and relatively easy peaceful walk with fantastic views throughout – and now back to Appletree Cottage with plans for a return trip another day!

Beinn Dubh is on the right with a horseshoe of summits to the left of it