Gargunnock Hills
Encyclopedia
The Gargunnock Hills are a range of hills west of the city of Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. They culminate in the peak of Carleatheran, whose 485 metres (1,591.2 ft) summit is crowned by a trigonometrical pillar. The Gargunnock Hills are separated from the Fintry Hills
Fintry Hills
The Fintry Hills form the western end of a range of hills which stretch west from the city of Stirling, Scotland. They culminate in the peak of Stronend, which overlooks the village of Fintry....

 to their west by the valley of the Backside Burn. To their east are the Touch Hills, whilst to the south is Carron Valley Reservoir.

The hills are composed of volcanic rocks formed in the Carboniferous
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...

 period and which have proved more resistant to erosion than the surrounding sedimentary rocks.

The hills are defined to the north by a 300 metres (984.3 ft) craggy escarpment overlooking the valley of the River Forth
River Forth
The River Forth , long, is the major river draining the eastern part of the central belt of Scotland.The Forth rises in Loch Ard in the Trossachs, a mountainous area some west of Stirling...

. At the foot of this scarp are the villages of Gargunnock
Gargunnock
Gargunnock is a small village in the Stirling council area approximately seven miles west of Stirling, in Scotland. The 2001 census population was 944...

 and Kippen
Kippen
Kippen is a small village approximately west of the city of Stirling, Scotland. It lies between the Gargunnock and Fintry hills and overlooks the strath of the River Forth. The name is believed to come from Scottish Gaelic, ceapan, meaning "place of the little stump", "outcrop" or "block". The...

.

The hills drain principally to the south; Mary Glyn’s Burn and Burnfoot Burn combine with Gourlay’s Burn and Backside Burn to form Endrick Water
Endrick Water
The Endrick Water or River Endrick is a river which flows into the eastern end of Loch Lomond, Scotland.Its drainage basin covers a large part of the west of Stirling District...

. The waters of Earl’s Burn are dammed at two places to form Earlsburn Reservoir no. 1 and Earlsburn Reservoir no. 2. The few streams which fall to the north include Gargunnock Burn which plunges over the scarp at Downie’s Loup
Downie’s Loup
-References:...

.

External links

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