Sheriffmuir Lifting Stones

Two granite boulders sit on a windswept hillside above Dunblane, and according to local legend, they mark the spot where a Scottish blacksmith once lifted stones that no other man could budge. Whether that's true hardly matters when you're standing there looking across Perthshire on a clear day.

Sheriffmuir itself is a proper moorland walk - rolling hills, open country, the kind of landscape that makes you understand why people fought over this corner of Scotland. The stones themselves are modest, honestly. They're not vast or particularly dramatic. But the story attached to them, combined with the views across the Carse of Stirling, gives the whole outing a bit of character that a typical roadside monument wouldn't have.

It's a walker's destination rather than a drive-up-and-stare kind of place. Allow a couple of hours if you're making a day of it, exploring the moorland paths. Families with young kids might find the walk itself more rewarding than the actual stones. History buffs will appreciate the Jacobite battlefield context - Sheriffmuir hosted a significant skirmish in 1715.

Nearby Craighead Howf holiday park sits just three and a half miles away, making this a natural add-on to a longer Perthshire break. The moorland walk works well in autumn or spring when the weather's crisp. Summer can be sticky and midgy. Go for the landscape and the walk, not the stones themselves.