Cairnsmore of Carsphairn is a hill in the

Carsphairn and Scaur Hills The Carsphairn and Scaur Hills are the western and eastern hills respectively of a hill range in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Ordnance Survey maps don't have a general name for the hill area as a whole. Also, Ordnance Survey use "Scar" rather ...

range, part of the

Southern Uplands The Southern Uplands ( gd, Na Monaidhean a Deas) are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the other two being the Central Lowlands and the Grampian Mountains and the Highlands, as illustrate ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. An alternative name, rarely used nowadays, is ''Cairnsmore of Deugh''. It is the highest hill in the range, and its summit is just under northeast of Carsphairn village

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver ...

, in the far north of

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative count ...

Walking

The usual route of ascent is from the A713 road to the west at the "Green Well of Scotland" a mile north of Carsphairn. Despite its height, it is a relatively easy hill to climb - over some rough grass, with no steep slopes and with a very flat summit area - though there are areas of more rugged ground on the outlying peaks of Beninner and Moorbrock. For most of the route, there are excellent views westward over the Glenkens to the Rhinns of Kells in the

Galloway Hills The Galloway Hills are part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland, and form the northern boundary of western Galloway. They lie within the bounds of the Galloway Forest Park, an area of some of largely uninhabited wild land, managed by Forestry an ...

. According to a tourist information board placed at The Green Well at the start of the track, in good conditions, the mountains of England, Wales, Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland can be seen from the summit, as well as Glasgow and Edinburgh, some 80 miles distant.

Climbing

Because of the local geology, no good rock climbing has been recorded on the massif. However, in winter there are a number of short ice climbs of up to on the slopes of Beninner and Moorbrock Hill.

Subsidiary SMC Summits

References

External links

Information on Hill Walking in the Galloway Hills
Marilyns of Scotland Donald mountains Corbetts Mountains and hills of the Southern Uplands Mountains and hills of Dumfries and Galloway Climbing areas of Scotland {{Scotland-sports-venue-stub