Walk 17 Ben Tirran
Walk 18 Green Hill, Boustie Ley and Ben Reid
Walk 19 Dog Hillock, Finbracks and Manywee
Walk 20 Hill of Glansie
Walk 21 Tamhilt and Hill of Mondurran
Walk 22 Hill of Wirren and East Wirren
Walk 23 Mount Battock and Mount Een
Walk 24 Hill of Cat and Hill of Gairney
Walk 25 Mount Keen
Walk 26 Craig Maskeldie and Hunt Hill
Walk 27 Capel Mounth
Walk 28 Tolmounth
Walk 29 Firmounth
Walk 30 Mounth
APPENDIX A Walk summary table
APPENDIX B Useful contacts
Ladder Burn and the Mounth Road from Glenmark (Walk 30)
The Tolmounth rising over open ground above Glendoll Forest (Walk 28)
INTRODUCTION
A bird’s-eye view over the glacial bowl of Corrie Fee and Glen Doll (Walk 14)
The five main glens of Angus – Isla, Prosen, Clova, Lethnot and Esk – radiate from the fertile plains of Strathmore deep into the southern ranges of the Cairngorms National Park. Each has its own distinct character and together they offer walkers exceptional variety.
Glen Clova is the most popular. From the car park at the end of the public road, Glen Doll and the valley of the River South Esk offer access to a clutch of Munros. Many walkers make a beeline for the contours above 3000 feet, but there are lots of less well-trod paths awaiting quiet exploration, ancient stalkers’ paths and drove routes, like Jock’s Road, the Capel Mounth and Kilbo Path, providing ways through and over the hills.
Lurking below the high tops, U-shaped valleys with precipitous slopes soaring to airy ramparts of crags and cliffs and deep corrie lochans, such as Loch Brandy, offer physical evidence of the glacial power that carved out this landscape many millennia ago. The rocky amphitheatre of Corrie Fee, above Glen Doll, is one of the best examples of a moraine landscape in Scotland and is home to scarce alpine plants.
To the south of Clova, Glen Prosen is a sparsely populated valley, offering a less-frequented approach to the Munros of Driesh and Mayar while, setting out from the landmark Airlie Monument, the line of low hills separating Prosen from Clova is one of the area’s finest ridge walks.
Glen Isla is the most westerly of the Angus glens and is a land of contrasts. Following the River Isla upstream from the waterfalls at Reekie Linn, the terrain is initially relatively benign, gently undulating slopes carpeted in commercial forestry and rough pasture hiding artificial fishing lochs and reservoirs in fell-like folds. At its northern end the glen has a much wilder atmosphere as it tickles the craggy underbelly of Caenlochan Forest where hill tracks and stalkers’ paths rise to the summits of Glas Maol and Creag Leacach.
Shorter glens radiate out from Isla’s main spine: Glen Damff and Glen Finlet link with Prosen, while remote Canness Glen and Caenlochan Glen probe deep into the mountains.
Heading northeast, back over Prosen and Clova, Glen Lethnot is the least visited of the Angus glens. Wild and lonely, the valley offers a tempting choice of tracks and paths on to lower hills.
Water of Mark flowing through Glen Mark; conservation work has been undertaken here to encourage spawning salmon (Walk 25)
Completing the set, Glen Esk lies on the southern edge of the Grampian Mountains. It is a long, snaking valley, 15 miles of twisting tarmac ending just short of Invermark Lodge, a classic mid-Victorian shooting lodge overlooking Loch Lee. Sloping up from the road, an army of hills forms a frontier between Angus and Aberdeenshire. All worthy of ascent, they steadily gain in height until Mount Keen, the most easterly of Scotland’s Munros, is reached. Below the tops, a network of ancient byways is now the preserve of walkers and backpackers.
As diverse as they are, with their own unique characteristics, the Angus glens combine to offer the walker a rich blend of landscape, geology and natural habitat, encompassing high mountain peaks and lower hills, glacial valleys, corries and moraine, natural and managed forestry, lochs and man-made reservoirs, cascading upland burns and gently meandering rivers. Not only is the scenery exceptionally varied and the views nothing short of awe-inspiring, but there is also a great profusion of plants, birds and wildlife.
While they may feel rugged and remote, all five glens are remarkably accessible and, thanks to the A90, are within easy reach of Dundee. Despite this, they remain a relatively peaceful and crowd-free escape for walkers. The routes offer a selection of moderate to challenging hill and mountain walks suitable for capable hillwalkers.
Landscape
The Angus glens are a product of the Ice Age, glaciers the architects of both upland and lowland terrain. In their wake, these snaking rivers of ice left behind well-sculpted peaks, deep U-shaped valleys and cavernous armchair-like corries.
While the upper reaches of the glens – cloaked in crags and cliffs – remain hostile and rugged, the gathering of sediment over thousands of years created fertile plains lower down the valleys. These were settled by early farmers. While Neolithic sites and several Iron Age earth houses have been found, most of the archaeological remains uncovered date from medieval or later times. Early evidence of farming includes turf dykes and the ruins of shielings (small stone-built cottages located on higher pasture). Rig and furrow, a traditional system of cultivating land practised until the mid-19th century, is evident across the area.
In the 1850s, in common with much of the Scottish Highlands, families were cleared from the land to make way for large sheep farms and the population fell sharply. The glens continue to support agriculture and communities, albeit on a much smaller scale than once was the case.
Between this flat land and the mountain peaks and plateaus above, the moors may at first glance appear wild and untamed but this belies the heavy influence of man. Vast areas of land are managed for sport – grouse and pheasant shooting, deer stalking and fishing the main activities. Alongside farming this is the mainstay of the local economy. Heather burning, vermin control, the construction of hill tracks and the retention of remote cottages and lodges are just a few of the ways these sporting activities impact on the lie of the land.
Where ground has been deemed unviable for either farming or sport, commercial forestry has taken root. Glen Clova (including Glen Doll), Glen Isla and Glen Prosen all have extensive plantations while, over recent years, concerted efforts have been made to restore native woodlands.
Wildlife
The Angus glens are home to an array of wildlife. However, some species are much more likely to be spotted by walkers than others. In the hills and valleys, red and roe deer are common. While reds tend to roam the hills and glens in sizeable herds,