Knock Farril

Panoramic view from Knock Farril 

 The Hill

Location: Knock Farril, near Strathpeffer, but accessed from the A835 between Contin and Maryburgh

Grid Reference: NH 50539 58544

Height: 281m

Classification: Tump 

The Walk

Distance: 800m (half a mile)

Ascent: 35m

Terrain: Steep rocky climb followed by mown path across grass

Parking: Excellent parking at the foot of hill in forestry carpark 

The hardest part of this hill walk was finding the start. The hillbagger recalled that he'd been there once and that it was a hill worth climbing, but his recollection of the location was less precise than it might have been. We started off right, turning off the A835 at the road signposted Tollie Red Kites (which has with one of the most enormous brown tourists signs I have ever seen, you can't miss it). After that however we accidentally drove almost all the way round the very picturesque Loch Ussie before we realised we had gone wrong somewhere. What you should actually do is turn right at the signpost for Knock Farril once you are on the north side of Loch Ussie. Had we looked the hill name up before we went searching for it this might have been something of a giveaway...  Follow this road to it's end and turn left. Then take next right at the wooden sign saying Knock Farril Hillfort and Walks. This road then takes you to some well signposted Forestry Commission carparking. There's a big layby near the bottom end of this track, but if you drive on up, there is an even larger parking space at the far end, which is the perfect starting point for this tiny hill walk.

Huge carpark with Knock Farril behind

It's another hill where the view is pretty superb even if you don't get beyond the carpark. The hill drops away steeply to the north, giving excellent views of Strathpeffer, and the views to the south with the whole of Loch Ussie and it's adorable little islands is pretty spectacular too. 

The hill, which was clearly identifiable from the carpark, looked doable though, so we set off. In fact the route is so clear that you're not getting a map this time. The vegetation is highly eroded on this side of the hill, and there isn't so much a path as an expanse of rocky hillside, but you just go straight up. It is quite steep, but fortunately there was a really beautiful Scot's pine that I had to stop and photograph half way up, and also some of the brightest pinkest heather I have ever seen outside of a garden centre, which obviously had to be admired too.

Scot's Pine on the side of Knock Farril

I was feeling quite proud of myself as I approached the summit, which had been clearly visible the whole way up. Unfortunately it turned out that Knock Farril is a trickster hill, that has a false summit. I actually don't think I have come across such an impressive false summit in my entire tiny hill bagging career. They were a plague upon my childhood walking career, with the most memorable being a hill on Skye where we took an unwise route through waist high heather and came across so many false summits that I am not sure whether we ever reached the top or not. I do know that I never wanted to see another summit, be it true or false, after that particular experience... 

I forgave Knock Farril though. The reasons for the forgiveness are twofold. Firstly, although the false summit is only half way along the walk, you have already done at least 90% of the climb. The second was that at the false summit the route abruptly changes, most unexpectedly, from a rocky hillside to a clearly mown path through a beautiful wildflower meadow. These combine to make the second half of the walk more of a gentle saunter than a committed climb, so we sauntered along to the true summit. 

The most unexpected change of terrain from rocky hillside to mown path

Along the way I spotted really quite a huge variety of wildflowers. There was a stand of rosebay willow herb and a patch of blaeberries. Then a scattering of dancing harebells, patches of clover and a whole lot of others that I couldn't identify. By this point gloaming was fast approaching, but I also spotted some swallows swooping below us on the south side of the hill, and I suspect that had it been lighter there may well have been more bird life around. 

The summit was well worth the extra walk, with expansive views to the East, as well as the North and South. Even the view to the west, isn't bad, although the westward view would probably be better from Cnoc Mor, the hill on the other side of the carpark, which I believe is a Marilyn. Knock Farril is pretty unbeatable for walk to view ratios though!

Views to the east from the summit of Cnoc Farril

Happy hillbaggers!