Auchineden Hill

Sitting at the eastern edge of the Kilpatrick Hills, this modest summit is defined by the bizarre rock-fissure of The Whangie. The walk up is gentle and often boggy, offering a grandstand view across to the distinctive profiles of Dumgoyne and the sprawling Campsie Fells beyond the Blane Valley.

• •The name likely derives from the Gaelic 'Achadh' and 'Eadon', meaning the 'Field of the Hill-Face', which aptly describes the steep, fractured northern slopes overlooking the A809.
• •The hill is best known for The Whangie, a 100-metre-long sandstone slice separated from the main cliff; while geologists attribute it to a post-glacial landslip, local folklore claims it was carved by the Devil's tail.
• •The summit offers an exceptional vantage point for the 'Highland Boundary Fault', with the clear distinction between the Lowland hills and the southern Highlands marked by the prominent peak of Ben Lomond to the north.
• •The popular approach starts from the 'Queen's View' car park, so named because Queen Victoria reportedly stopped here in 1879 to admire the vista towards Loch Lomond and the Arrochar Alps.
• •The summit plateau features peat hags with a legendary capacity to swallow a walking boot, regardless of how little rain has fallen in the preceding week.