Gargunnock Hills facts for kids
The Gargunnock Hills are a range of hills located west of the city of Stirling, Scotland. These hills are a great place to explore! Their highest point is a peak called Carleatheran, which stands about 485 meters (1,591 feet) tall. At the very top of Carleatheran, you'll find a special marker called a trigonometrical pillar, used for surveying and mapping the land.
The Gargunnock Hills are separated from the Fintry Hills to their west by a valley with a stream called the Backside Burn. To the east, you'll find the Touch Hills, and to the south is the Carron Valley Reservoir. The northern edge of the hills has a steep, rocky slope, like a big cliff, that is about 300 meters (984 feet) high. This slope looks over the valley of the River Forth. At the bottom of this steep slope are the small villages of Gargunnock and Kippen.
How Water Flows in the Gargunnock Hills
Most of the water from the Gargunnock Hills flows south. Several small streams, like Mary Glyn's Burn, Burnfoot Burn, Gourlay's Burn, and Backside Burn, all join together to form the Endrick Water.
There are also two reservoirs, Earlsburn Reservoir no. 1 and Earlsburn Reservoir no. 2, which were created by building dams across the Earl's Burn. A few streams flow north from the hills, including Gargunnock Burn, which creates a waterfall called Downie's Loup as it plunges over the steep northern slope.
The Rocks That Form the Hills
The Gargunnock Hills are made up of special rocks that came from volcanoes a very long time ago, during a period called the Carboniferous period. These volcanic rocks are much harder than the softer rocks around them, which is why the hills have stood tall while the surrounding land has worn away.
The main type of rock you'll find across most of the hills is a volcanic rock called basalt. It's part of something geologists call the Gargunnock Hills Lava Member. On the steep northern slope of the hills, you can see other layers of volcanic rock that were formed at different times. From the newest layers at the top to the oldest at the bottom, these include:
- The Spout of Ballochleam Lava Member, which is also made of basaltic lava.
- The Slackgun Volcaniclastic Member, which contains sandstone and conglomerate (a rock made of pebbles cemented together).
- The Skiddaw Lava Member, another layer of basaltic lava.
Another type of volcanic rock, called trachybasalt, is found around Lees Hill and further east. It's the Spout of Ballochleam lavas that actually form the tall cliffs on the northern side of the hills. Beneath these cliffs, you can see large amounts of material that have slipped down the hillside over time.
Most of the flat tops of the hills are covered by peat, which is a type of soil made from decayed plants. This peat formed during the Holocene epoch, which is the current geological time period we live in.
