One of Central Scotland’s best loved and most distinctive hills
The distinctive two summit profile of Tinto and adjoining Totherin Hill is a familiar landmark throughout the Clyde and Avon Valley and beyond.
Standing on the west bank of the River Clyde at 707 metres high, Tinto is the highest point in Central Scotland. It offers sweeping views of the Clyde and Avon Valley, as well as to the Lake District, the mountains of Mourne in Northern Ireland, Ailsa Craig and the Island of Arran, the Arrochar Alps and as far north as Lochnagaar in the Cairngorms.
Copyright Kieran Harris
Tinto boasts two ancient monuments. Iron Age Fallburn Fort can still be seen on the lower slopes, distinguishable as a 60 metre wide circular hillfort with a series of concentric ramparts, which would have offered protection to the farming community in the area against Border Reiver raids.
The second ancient monument is the Bronze Age summit cairn, reputedly the largest in Scotland at 43 metres wide and 6 metres high, and still growing – it’s a tradition to carry a rock from the bottom and place it on the top of Tinto. The triangulation point stands at the highest natural point of Tinto, a short distance west of the cairn, but the best views are offered from the summit of the man-made cairn.
The name Tinto is possible derived from the Gaelic 'teinnteach,' meaning ‘fiery,’ which may refer to its ancient past as a look out beacon.
