Criffel (from New Abbey)

Criffel is the prominent hill seen from most places in Dumfries. Everyone can see it, but fewer climb it. Criffel sits at the bottom of every street that faces south and it tells you what the weather is doing before the forecast does.

It is one of the best value summits in Scotland. Under six hundred metres, so you can be up and down in an afternoon, but from the top the whole Solway is laid out beneath you, Cumbria and the Lake District across the water, the Galloway hills at your back and Dumfries looking very small indeed. On a good day you’ll see the Isle of Man.

Which bus

• Service: 372 Dumfries – Sandyhills (Houston’s Minicoaches)
• Alight at: New Abbey, opp Post Office, then walk to Ardwall for the hill path
• Runs: daily, eight or nine journeys each way

Bus to New Abbey

There are two main routes up Criffel. Approach from Knockendoch or Ardwall Mains. Getting off the bus in New Abbey means you’ll be using the Knockendoch approach.

The 372 takes about 20 minutes to reach New Abbey. Get off by the Post Office in New Abbey, cross the road, and admire Sweetheart Abbey for a moment, because you will be too tired to admire it properly on the way back. Then head towards the Old Mill, the Waterloo Monument and pick up the path to Knockendoch.

Knockendoch and the Waterloo Monument

The Waterloo Monument, a tower on the hillside above the village that was put up in 1816 to celebrate the end of Napoleon, is an optional diversion. It makes a longer loop, and if the weather is poor, or the day is short, the monument on its own is a good outing and a fraction of the effort.

What you see from the top of Criffel

On a clear day, you’ll see the lot. The Solway spread out like a sheet of tin, Southerness lighthouse a white pin at the point, the Nith winding down from Dumfries, Skiddaw and the Cumbrian fells across the water, and the Galloway hills rolling west into the haze. On a dull day you get cloud and the sense of having achieved something anyway. Bring something to eat and a layer you think you will not need. The wind at the top is not the wind at the bottom.

Down to New Abbey

Back in the village, there is tea, cake and benches. Sometimes the pub is open. Sweetheart Abbey (1273) itself is worth a wander, although often clad in ye olde scaffolding. Lady Devorgilla - she of the bridge - built it for her husband and was buried there with his heart in a kist, which is the sort of story that improves with hot cup of coffee. Sit for a bit. You have earned it.

The bus home

The 372 back to Dumfries stops by the pub, and with eight or nine a day you will not wait long. Check the timetable before you climb, all the same, because the last bus is the last bus and Criffel does not have a night service. Twenty minutes later you are back in Dumfries, looking at the hill from the other end, and knowing exactly what it looks like from the top.