Photographs of Conic Hill above Balmaha and Loch Lomond

Islands in Loch Lomond

The islands of Loch Lomond were formed

as part of the Highland Boundary Fault.

The Fault forms a straight line

diagonally across the country,

from Helensburgh in the west

to Stonehaven in the north-east.

South of the line,

the country is low and relatively flat,

while to the north are the Scottish Highlands.

Conic Hill has been described as a “fairly steep-sided hogs-back ridge", a pretty accurate description
although the origin of its name comes from the Gaelic A’Coinneach, which refers to moss or boggy
ground. That’s probably a better description, especially on a wet winter's afternoon.
A stiff climb rises from the car park in Balmaha up through the woods and on to a broad wet col and hence to
the summit of Conic Hill commanding the island-speckled waters of Loch Lomond.
Here lies a stretch of water that shares itself between the highlands and the lowlands, wide spreading and generous in its southern reaches but gradually growing narrower as it reaches north before its steel grey waters are
choked off by tumbling hillsides and crags.
Conic Hill stands slap-bang on the Highland Boundary Fault, the geological fault-line that runs from the
southern end of Loch Lomond to Stonehaven on the northeast coast, and in clear weather the views from
here are hard to beat.
To the south, the Garguunock and Fintry Hills lead in to the northern escarpment of the Campsies, and
through the wide gap of Strath Blane you might just glimpse the tower blocks of Glasgow. Further west,
the Kilpatrick Hills dominate before falling away into the Vale of Leven, through which the distant
chimney of the lnverkip Power Station on the River Clyde rises. Beyond it, natural forms reassert
themselves in the shape of the mountains of Arran.
ln the north, Ben Lomond rises over everything else and beyond it the tumble of mountains goes on
as though for ever. Across the loch the Luss hills give a gentle pre-amble to the wild form of the Arrochar
Alps and the surrealistic shape of their jewel, Ben Arthur / the Cobbler.

A full traverse of Conic Hill is obtained by following the West Highland Way from Drymen to Balmaha.