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| Name: | Hill of Garvock |
| Hill number: | 517 |
| Height: | 277m / 909ft |
| RHB Section: | 07B: Braemar to Montrose |
| County/UA: | Aberdeenshire |
| Catchment: | North Esk |
| Class: | Marilyn, Hump, Tump (200-299m), Yeaman (Ma,Hu,Tu,2,Y) |
| Grid ref: | NO 72665 69178 |
| Summit feature: | base of tower |
| Drop: | 219m |
| Col: | 58m NO735751  |
| OS map sheet(s): | (1:50k) 45 (1:25k) 382N |
| GPS data: | show GPS entries for this hill |
N.B. Some hill summits are on private property or on land where there is no public right of way. Permission should be sought from the landowner where access to a hill summit is through private land(*).
*For information about access rights in Scotland see the ScotWays website.
Please report via the contact page any logs you see below which describe or encourage acts of trespass. Please quote the hill number and hill name.
| Logged Descriptions (logged by 227 users, only the latest 50 shown - Show all) | By | Date of Ascent |
| Parked at Laurencekirk Viewpoint. No cattle, only sheep in the fields | hummusg | 02/01/2024 |
| Out and back from viewpoint car park. With mntainman. | Dangerous Dave | 04/10/2023 |
| Started same place, view point car park. Clambered iver gate into fieldnnaware to look out for and avoid cows….which i did. A bull was also with the group. V curious folly at high point. Return sa,me way. Lovely open clean public loo laurenkirk high street | VerySlowPlodder | 05/07/2023 |
| A straightforward and pleasant walk from the viewpoint to the NE, although the missing steps make the ascent of the space invader tower dicier than might be expected. Masses of speedwell in flower in the meadows in June. | Nick Down1 | 13/06/2023 |
| From the viewpoint P @ NO 7389 7062. Warning signs about cow danger is probably to cover backsides. Ascended the tower. | summitsup | 24/04/2023 |
| Nice tower. | Adrian | 15/08/2022 |
| walked in from car park view point on the road to the north, cows were in the field just walk pass them no trouble. | Nozzer | 10/11/2021 |
| From the B9120 viewpoint car park. Cows were further down the hill today and didn't get in the way. | JulieB | 04/11/2021 |
| Slow jogged from the viewpoint as my bro waited.. had to detour a fair bit downhill as the cows went a bit crazy even though I stayed well away. Had a look in the tower but full of bird droppings and a couple of broken eggs so didn’t want to disturb any further. Less than half an hour. | PDuncan82 | 26/09/2021 |
| 2.5 mile out-and-back from the viewpoint car park east. Then followed the same route most other people take along the ridge to the summit. The first 2 huge fields contained the majority of the cows that eventhough have quite a scary reputation seemed quite placid today. Eventhough one did moo at me as I walked past. The very few cows in the summit field were not interested in us. The tower has a door now but it is easy enough to open. When returning the same way all the cows were waiting for us again but paid even less attention. 65m ascent from car. Sunny where we were but dark clouds on all the hills to the north. Earlier that day we bagged White and Brown Caterthun's. Even though we had no problems this is possibly not one for people who are scared of cows! | DanTrig | 17/09/2021 |
| From Laurencekirk VP CP. Should have taken barely half an hour but present farmer, very inquisitive cows, endless electric fences and superbrash turned this trip into nearly 2hrs. Definitely best climbed from S, SW or W during summer season. Amazing folly, if very dodgy. | iangpark | 21/06/2021 |
| From picnic car park. No cattle in field today but to avoid them suggest going here outside of the mid April to October period. The tower is open but a head torch would be useful for the stairs. This summit folly looks like Thunderbird 1 without the command capsule. | sarahk | 03/05/2021 |
| Trig bagging with Mike & Kasi | LizzieG | 03/05/2021 |
| From parking at view point, with Inez. | clashcityrocker | 05/08/2020 |
| Good car park at bend in road to NE. Across 2 or 3 cattle pastures, complete with plenty of cattle, all quite placid today. 2 trigs and a benchmark at the hill top. Tower was open so a wee visit to the top, exercising a little caution at the 3 broken steps. | jonglew | 24/10/2019 |
| Not a route for agoraphobics or bovinophobics (open spaces & cows - with nowhere for you to run to when they begin to canter), and if the tower is to climbed with its missing steps -acrophobia, scotophobia, hygrophobia (triple bill of heights, darkness and dampness). Not to mention claustrophobia. Could be worse though if you have panophobia - fear of everything!? | Chris Pearson | 22/10/2019 |
| From picnic site at NO739706. BWFs and EFs abound, plus signs on gate warning of bull and 'frisky' cows in field - both of which were rather nonchalantly disinterested in me, probably due to their joint misery, with me, of the driving Bank Holiday rain. Over this gate, alongside the triple EF-BWF-EF fence, along the grassy ridge over 4 more gates or hurdles to the tower. Went up the steps inside until a few were missing - imagine being the first assailant climbing up here, expecting to be skewered at any moment by a claymore, from above, in the dark - urrgghh. | Isbjorn | 26/05/2019 |
| Pleasant stroll along the ridge from the picnic area car park on the B9120. Good views from the top of the tower. | martin_hall | 07/04/2019 |
| An intriguing summit. Those final stone steps are an added bonus. | summitter | 25/01/2019 |
| With Brian in a cold foggy wind. No views. | Play2End | 20/01/2019 |
| From the picnic site like everyone else...the tower looks like a grumpy alien when the sun is behind it. | Gill | 18/01/2019 |
| Cows docile enough = walk slowly and they just stare | carole engel | 20/10/2018 |
| From the picnic spot, no cows or other animals in the field. A nice stroll. | Gebirgsjaeger | 15/04/2018 |
| from B9120 | BLACKHILL | 24/03/2018 |
| From picnic area and back. | PaulineD | 18/02/2018 |
| Solo | HFB | 01/10/2017 |
| From the B9120 picnic area and south-west across the fields. Best views north-west to the mountains and south-east to the sea. | Windy Corner | 25/06/2017 |
| From Laurencekirk en route to St Cyrus, TGOC17 | Colin Crawford | 25/05/2017 |
| No cows in field today | iainwalton | 21/04/2017 |
| Evening walk returning from work in Aberdeen, from the car park on the pass up from Laurencekirk Glorious sunshine. | N.Morters | 07/04/2017 |
| From B9120 viewpoint CP. With Sam and Tim. | ChrisR | 02/04/2017 |
| Parked at the free viewpoint car park on the B9120. Over the right hand gate, then followed the field edge, over 2 or 3 more gates to the summit. The killer cattle were not in residence but the weather was appalling. Heavy snow showers and an easterly gale made this hill challenging. With ST, JT and HT. | Sprog | 12/02/2017 |
| From viewpoint car park. Cattle in first three fields and non in fourth field with tower. | Lionel Bidwell | 30/10/2016 |
| From the South under power lines to summit. Cattle in all adjacent fields, plus electric fences. | NormanW | 21/06/2016 |
| Parked at viewpoint car park. Followed ridge to top surrounded by cows. Ascended to top of the monument for great views from the sea around to the Cairngorms. Returned via same route. | raffemeister | 20/05/2016 |
| Parked up at 739706 in the picnic area. No cattle in sight so I went for it! An easy 40 minute round walk in good conditions. | bolton | 06/05/2016 |
| An easy route from the big car park at the right-hand bend, over the gate on the right to avoid the electric fences. Afterwards, down through the trees towards Laurencekirk. The cows were all a bit lower down. The tower makes this my favourite hill for miles, with a new kind of Bad Step. Door still unlocked. | Pete R | 05/12/2015 |
| A repeat for me, first time for Jenx. Same route as last time. Muddy so in wellies. | nordicstar | 02/12/2015 |
| Nice start to the day with sunrise over the sea. Many flocks of geese flying over. | jenx | 02/12/2015 |
| Weather fair but views murky. | MountainMac | 25/10/2015 |
| Dry, sunny, calm, mild and good views if colourless. | iangalbraith | 04/10/2015 |
| Solo, from picnic spot to NE. Tower has birds nesting inside, as well as looking like the steps will collapse any moment, so probably best avoided! | amswanston | 18/09/2015 |
| From the viewpoint carpark, along the fields to the summit, a great viewpoint from the tower. | robertphillips | 02/12/2014 |
| From carpark on B9120 across fields, avoiding those containing cows so fair bit of fence-hopping required. | AndrewFinnimore | 19/10/2014 |
| From picnic spot to NE. Tower has a very scary missing step up at very top. Excellent viewpoint and easy bag | Thearlaichdubh | 07/09/2014 |
| Solo trip from viewpoint car park, though there were no cattle or sheep so dog could have come too. | Invicta14 | 26/03/2014 |
| With Ian, short walk on our East of Scotland week | nickywood1 | 05/07/2013 |
| From car park to tower, stalking around the cattle (farm notice says they should be avoided April to November) | neimcv | 24/08/2012 |
| Solo from picnic spot described. No cows in fields, climed tower as door open, dodgy top steps. Grand views. Ran out and back. | nordicstar | 01/05/2012 |
| Parked at the picnic spot. Then had to go through four fields of very lively cows. Managed to keep them at walking pole length. Descended via the wood to the north. There is a feint path in the wood which comes out at NO728702 on the B9120 | garyhoney | 07/08/2011 |