📌 Knapdale, Argyll & Bute
★★
A low hill above the remote village of Torinturk offers a rare view over the forest canopy towards West Loch Tarbert. It’s topped with the iron-age fort of Dùn a’ Choin Duibh, or fort of the black dog, reputed to have once been guarded by a creature that was half wolf, half dog. The fort can be reached directly by a short but steep ascent from the nearby Forestry and Land Scotland car park, but a slightly longer approach takes in a couple of historic burial cairns: one bronze age, one neolithic. Both are unexcavated, with the former said to contain the body of the great hunter Diarmid, founder of Clan Campbell.
📷 Chronological photo guide
🌍 Location
📌 Start / finish off the B8024 near Torinturk
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NR 809640
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.819619,-5.499761
🚌 Extremely infrequent bus to Torinturk
🚗 Car park – rough & steep access track from Torinturk may be tricky for vehicles with low ground clearance, in which case park in Torinturk & walk up
📝 Key info
▶ 3 km / 2 mi | ▲ 120 m | ⌛ 1-1.5 hr
Features: ✞ Achaglachgach Cairns; 🏰 Dùn a’ Choin Duibh
⬤ Moderate | Mostly forestry tracks; some paths with are boggy and steep in places.
Download file for GPS➡️ Clockwise circuit: start – Achaglachgach Cairns – Dùn a’ Choin Duibh – start
🥾 On our last visit
Wildlife: Loads of slugs on the wet ground!
Weather: Warm, humid and overcast following earlier rain; mist patches hanging around forest canopies.
July 2016
