Scroggy Bank

Scroggy Bank is a modest hilltop near Helensburgh that rewards a short walk with genuine views across the Clyde estuary and towards the Cowal Peninsula. On a clear day you can see right down towards the Firth of Clyde - nothing dramatic, but the sort of panorama that reminds you why people settled along this coast.

The walk itself is straightforward: grassland terrain, no technical scrambling required, though it can get muddy after rain. Allow an hour for the round trip from the car park if you're not hanging about. It's the kind of walk families with younger children can manage without fuss, though you'd need decent shoes. The actual summit is anticlimactic - just a modest high point - but the journey up is pleasant enough.

Historically minded visitors might appreciate its position in relation to Rosneath Peninsula and the old fortifications dotted along this stretch of coast, though Scroggy Bank itself isn't particularly significant. It's more of a local hill than a destination worth traveling miles for, but if you're staying at nearby Rosneath Castle Caravan Park or Hunters Quay Holiday Village, it makes a perfectly decent morning outing. Combine it with a wander round Helensburgh's waterfront rather than making it the entire day's entertainment.

Best visited when the weather's settled - the Argyllshire sky can turn grey faster than you'd expect, and when it does, this hill loses whatever charm it has.