View all Nearby locations. Travellers Journeys Nearby. Exploring the Glasshouses at Glasgow Botanic Gardens. The Lost Valley of Glencoe. Argyll nights.
Thank You! Account with this email already exists. First Name. No Thanks. Request has been sent. SEND Loading Join Hidden Scotland Today. If you look to the south you can admire the mosaic of farmland and woodland, with field boundaries, trees and shelterbelts, which creates a distinctive and intimate lowland landscape that contrasts with other more rugged parts of the National Park. The path is easy to find and well-trodden.
You will reach a false summit before the top proper but you will know when you are there because the vista is spectacular. Find out more information including a map about the hike up Conic Hill. All persons taking part in such activities do so at their own risk, acknowledging and accepting the risk of accident, injury or damage. Look over to your left south and you should be able to see a mosaic of farm and woodland, with field boundaries, trees and a generally more intimate feel.
This is because the different sides of the fault are made of different types of rock. Before the two land masses collided around million years ago England and Scotland were on different sides of an ocean and made of different rocks. During the formation of these mountains the rocks were subjected to immense heat and pressure creating a series of metamorphic rocks.
Millions of years of erosion by wind, water and ice followed until the Himalaya-like mountains were reduced to relative stumps. The rugged Highlands we see today are the hard granites and metamorphic rocks exposed at the surface.
To the south of the Fault the rocks are softer sandstones and other sedimentary rocks. These formed from material deposited by rivers washing through the ancient mountain ranges.
They have weathered to produce softer, rolling landscapes more capable of supporting farming and woodland. The different landscapes have been used in different ways over the centuries - so different cultures and lifestyles have historically been apparent on either side of the Highland Boundary Fault. The Midland Valley, south of the fault, with gentle hills and fertile soil was good for farming. Typically, farmers worked the land, paying dues to the barons landowners — many of them English and ultimately the King.
The mountainous Highlands to the north of the fault were used for crofting. This involved small plots of good land being used to grow food and the rougher land used for common grazing and foraging. Here the traditional clan system was retained for much longer than in the south. It was not until the midth century and after the Battle of Culloden that the Government really made efforts to undermine the Scottish clan system and Gaelic culture.
Today, with many livelihoods less dependent on the land, and transport and technology opening up remoter areas of the country, life on either side of the fault is less divided. Leave the summit by the much more distinct path that tracks steeply downhill, roughly west, then joins the West Highland Way. Follow this southwest until you meet a fork in the path. As we descend towards Loch Lomond our eyes and thoughts return to the islands which hold the clue to the secret of the landscape.
The National Park Authority lists 22 islands and 27 islets within the mile long Loch. Some are inhabited by people while others are the sole domain of wild birds and animals. Most of these are dotted close to the shore of the lake. There is one, for example, just south east of Inchcailloch Island. Crannogs are artificial islands, found in lakes and rivers in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
It can be hard to date these structures; but we know they were built at various points from Prehistoric to Medieval times. They were made from whatever material was to hand — brush, wood or stone — and supported by timber piles. Some supported hut-like structures on top whilst others were just mini circular islands. Crannogs were probably used as defensive homesteads or as the retreats of kings.
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