Author’s note: this piece was written in summer 2021 and sadly the Strathclyde Daytripper ticket was withdrawn from sale later that year - the final tickets expired on 31st December 2021. The walk to Cruach Tairbeirt is still wonderful though.
An off-peak return from Lanark to Arrochar & Tarbet costs £33.60. I do like a bargain though, and there are few better bargains than the Strathclyde Daytripper ticket.
For £13.10, the Daytripper ticket gets you unlimited travel on all Scotrail services in the huge former Strathclyde region, after 9am on weekdays and all day on weekends and bank holidays. That's all rail services from Lanark and Carstairs in South Lanarkshire to Ardlui at the north of Loch Lomond, and all the way down through Ayrshire to Barrhill.
The £13.10 entitles two children to tag along as well, and there's a £23.20 option for two adults and up to four children. The value doesn't stop there - it's also valid on a host of bus services across the region as well as a handful of local ferries. The Daytripper tickets provide phenomenal value but do not seem to be well publicised. It's also a proper throwback - purchased from staffed ticket offices in a "scratch off the date to validate" format. Really.
Daytripper tickets actually look like this.
So on day three of my four day stay at New Lanark, and with the weather well set, I hopped onto the 9.23 train at Lanark and aimed for Loch Lomond. As a daytripper with a Daytripper ticket, I didn't have time for an expedition to one of the larger local mountains, but I had set my sights on a wee hill with some supposedly great views.
At 415m, Cruach Tairbeirt is a baby in a region that gives us classic hikes like Ben Arthur (The Cobbler) at 884m and well-trodden Munros like Ben Vorlich (943m) and Ben Lomond (across the shining waters of Loch Lomond and rising to 974m). However, it's perfectly placed overlooking Loch Lomond and at the head of Loch Long, and promised big views on (comparatively) limited effort.
First though, I had to climb it - which meant finding a route. The path to Cruach Tairbeirt used to be a waymarked trail, part of the wider Argyll Forest Park, but with the Forestry Commission Scotland conducting tree felling on the lower slopes over a number of years, the trail has quite literally disappeared off the maps and the commission seem to have (officially at least) discouraged walkers from climbing it. The most basic of web searches though revealed that plenty of people were still making the trip. At the risk of being a very minor forest outlaw, I decided to give it a whirl, following a route posted in a walk report by a bloke called Rob Munbett on the WalkHighlands website. Although the tree felling has clearly progressed since Rob's post in 2017, the description was invaluable in getting me to the top of the hill. Thanks Rob!
After ducking under the railway at Arrochar & Tarbet station and ignoring the signpost left for Arrochar, the path rises gently through the woodland before a short but lung-bursting stretch, firstly through a felled section and then back into the forest. Once on the open fell, it isn't long before the views open up both along the length of Loch Long to the south-west and up and down Loch Lomond directly to the east. From here, Ben Lomond shows as a graceful pyramid rising opposite - Cruach Tairbeirt must be in the running for "best view of Ben Lomond". To the west, the unmistakable summit of the Cobbler peeks over the lower slopes of Beinn Narnain. To the north, the dam of Loch Sloy nestles between Ben Vorlich and Ben Vane. Fellow fans of a good trigpoint will be pleased as well by Cruach Tairbeirt's well maintained and gleaming white pillar.
It's a tremendous spot, and I'm so glad I gave it a whirl. Now, it's probably time I actually climbed a Munro...
Ben Lomond and Loch Lomond, from Cruach Tairbeirt
Loch Long and Cruach Tairbeirt trig pillar
Looking north-west to Loch Sloy sandwiched between Ben Vane (left) and Ben Vorlich (right)
Loch Long with Ben Arthur to the right of the photo
Looking south from Cruach Tairbeirt to Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond
The train home from Arrochar & Tarbet