Walks | North-East
Mither Tap, Bennachie
Start: Rowantree Car Park, near Chapel of Garioch
Description: Walk up Aberdeenshire's largest hill range to a Pictish hill-fort.
OS Map: #38, Aberdeen, Inverurie & Pitmedden
Multimap: Online Map
This walk starts at the Rowantree Car Park, off the Chapel of Garioch road. Although a longer walk up Mither Tap than from Esson's Car Park, it offers a better view of the hill, and doesn't take the same approach of going straight up the steepest slope.
A narrow, rocky, but fairly easy going path sets off from the end of the car park, giving a few decent views to the northwest, to Dunnydeer hill fort, and Oyne(!). The tree line is quite low at this end of the hill, so the bright and quiet woodlands are soon left behind. For the most part, the path is well gravelled (that red sandy stuff that sticks to your boots), although there are times where it is on the hollowed out rock (at the start), on volanic rock, on a legendery causeway and finally, a steepish scramble onto the summit.
From the minute you leave the treeline, less than a quarter of the way up, you are treated to views of the cone shaped hill you are tackling. This gives you much more time to appreciate it's differences to the other summits of Bennachie, rather than the other routes up, which offer practically nothing in terms of anticipation.
At the end of a rather flat section, you come up to Hosie's Well. By this point you have passed the half-way point. The tale behind the well is that Hosie was a young man, in love with a girl who was to be his bride, when he was captured during the battle of Harlaw, near Inverurie. By the time he was released his bride-to-be had married another, and he is said to have died of a broken heart at the spot where the well still flows with his tears.
The view from the bottom of the last big climb. From here you can start to make out the huge rocky tors that surround the summit, and also the walls of the Pictish Fort. The dry walls of the fort are clearly visible. The hill is pitted with quarries from where these stones were carried to build the thick walls.
The path takes you right in through the entrance to the fort. The walls are in surprisingly good condition here, with the passageway to the inner area very straight, although rough underfoot. Care should be taken here, as some of the stones can be loose. The inside of the fort provides great shelter from the inevitable breeze. Even on a dull day it can feel very warm inside the walls. The wall can be followed the whole way round the summit, although it is barely visible in some spots.
To gain the summit, you have to scramble up a steep section of grass and rock, where great care must be taken, especially in wet weather. Steep edges surround the small summit area, espcially on the North-West, so stay well back on windy days! The view finder points out many landmarks of the North-East, from Bennachie's tallest hill Oxen Craig, to the likes of Lochnagar and Ben Avon.