Wanlockhead

arranandy

I'm thinking of doing a loop on Sunday which will involve the going over the Mennock Pass then down into Sanquhar then back up into Wanlockhead and Leadhills. Has anyone done a similar route recently and it so what are the road surfaces like and how steep is the climb from Sanqhar up to Wanlockhead?

Thanks

daowned

You should have a good day for it, I did the route from Sanquhar up into Wanlockhead and took the road (red tarmac) just after Wanlockhead into Crawfordjohn and then down back to Sanquhar worked out at about 30miles.

Don't have much stats about the climb but ist the highest village in Scotland so they say so its a big climb, on the route I did after Wanlockhead should be picking up some speed as its mostly all downhill.

saf4254201

if driving down there - then park at happendon services and cycle 1/2 mile down to the jct 12 m74 then take a70 under motorway then onto the B7078 and head south towards abingdon - take the crawfordjohn road B740 and follow to sanqhuar then south and back up the b797 mennock pass about 5km after leadhills village there is an unclassified road off to the left which brings you back down to crawfordjohn - then follow original route back to B7078 then back to A70 and happendon services. did this last autumn on a sunday and it was really quiet about 53 miles all in. mennock pass is okay just a bit of slog towards the end - worst bit is that it drops down at wanlockhead only to kick up again as you come out of wanlockhead as you go towards leadhills village

Anonymous

arranandy wrote:

I'm thinking of doing a loop on Sunday which will involve the going over the Mennock Pass then down into Sanquhar then back up into Wanlockhead and Leadhills. Has anyone done a similar route recently and it so what are the road surfaces like and how steep is the climb from Sanqhar up to Wanlockhead?

Thanks

The climb from Sanquhar upto Wanlockhead is pretty well graded....its pretty long and gets slightly steeper the higher you go but nothing serious...if you really want to do the route 'proper' then take the small road off to the right just outside wanlockhead and take this lovely surfaced road to Lowther Hill...highest road in Scotland...725meters...its pretty hard and steep but well worth it for the views...

arranandy

saf4254201 wrote:

if driving down there - then park at happendon services and cycle 1/2 mile down to the jct 12 m74 then take a70 under motorway then onto the B7078 and head south towards abingdon - take the crawfordjohn road B740 and follow to sanqhuar then south and back up the b797 mennock pass about 5km after leadhills village there is an unclassified road off to the left which brings you back down to crawfordjohn - then follow original route back to B7078 then back to A70 and happendon services. did this last autumn on a sunday and it was really quiet about 53 miles all in. mennock pass is okay just a bit of slog towards the end - worst bit is that it drops down at wanlockhead only to kick up again as you come out of wanlockhead as you go towards leadhills village

Did this route the morning except I continued down into Abington then back the old A74 to Happendon services. Great route and very light traffic. You were right about the last bit of the Mennock just before Wanlockhead - a bit of a slog. My only gripe was today was one of those days that there always seemed to be a headwind even on the downhill stretches.

dunc781

Richboy,

Is that 'lovely surfaced road to Lowther hill' (the highest road in scotland) rideable on a racing bike?
or would i need to take the mountain bike for it?

Anonymous

dunc781 wrote:

Richboy,

Is that 'lovely surfaced road to Lowther hill' (the highest road in scotland) rideable on a racing bike?
or would i need to take the mountain bike for it?

Yes the road upto the Lowther Hill is excellent, better than the road upto wanlockhead actually...youve only got to tackle a cattlegrid to start with...perfect for the roadbike....buts its a hell of a lot steeper than the Mennock Pass...thinks it goes up 250meters in 2.3kms or something...well worth it on a clear day

daowned

The road up is very good apart for some sheep shit now and then, finally got round to doing it today and thought I would post as it has been a few months since this thread was made.



It was quite windy on the way up and I thought I might get a top speed on the way down but decided agianst it, maybe on a less winday day.



This will be me for the year as far as travelling to do bikes rides so I am glad I done the Lowther Hill.

scwxx77

I'm thinking of doing it in a couple of weeks time. Should be a 60 mile round trip and the furthest I've gone to date. Hope the weather is as good as in these photo's!

daowned

After the upset of not doing Pedal For Scotland because the weather didnt look too good to do 100miles in I decided to check the forecast for this week and seen only Monday looked good so I did the 40 miles car journey down to Mennock from Glasgow.

It was a nice day only a wee shower at Crawfordjohn, its a really nice fast smooth road back to Sanquhar from there.

Brian B

I went up Lowther when we were down watching the TOB last Saturday. As usual it was very windy and could not see anything because of low clouds. I have only done this climb twice and both times the weather was bad.

Arranandy. A good 35 mile ride from Crawfordjohn it to go to Sanquhar via Whitesdie hill and them once down there take the Mennock Pass up to Wanlockhead and them up to Lowther Hill. From the top it is only 6 fast miles back to Crawfordjohn. Not really too challenging but a nice wee jaunt which takes in a good climb. We did this route in reverse last week to get to Whiteside Hill for the TOB.

woodywmb

The Lowther routes are ALWAYS windy and most times wet. Be prepared to burn calories. Hard climbs and long, gentle descents make it great bike country - but it's a drab place at most times.

shortbread

We did the Mennock Pass and Lowther Hill the other week - I found it tough, even though I've done it before! Mind you, we had done 90 miles by the time we began the climb :roll: Route was Moffat - Elvanfoot - Thornhill - Moniave - Carsphairn - Dalmellington - New Cumnock - Sanquhar - Wanlockhead and Lowther Hill - Elvanfoot - Moffat. 121 miles in all and an excellent route, not mcuh trafic at all.

scwxx77

shortbread wrote:

We did the Mennock Pass and Lowther Hill the other week - I found it tough, even though I've done it before! Mind you, we had done 90 miles by the time we began the climb :roll: Route was Moffat - Elvanfoot - Thornhill - Moniave - Carsphairn - Dalmellington - New Cumnock - Sanquhar - Wanlockhead and Lowther Hill - Elvanfoot - Moffat. 121 miles in all and an excellent route, not mcuh trafic at all.

Did it this morning but going from Crawfordjohn to Leadhills then into Mennock. The descent from Wanlockhead was a lot of fun. I passed a couple of people going the other way and didn't envy them.

Around the 4 hour mark I was cooked. Stood up on my pedals to get over a little rise in the road and my quads cramped and locked. Fell over like a tonne of bricks! :oops:

ian_oli

Interesting thread as I spent my early childhood in Wanlockhead in the '50s . It was almost always cold wet and windy there, with lots of snow. Sounds like global warming has not improved it!

Captain Fagor

It was a nice day today - nice enough for a 113 mile run to Lowther Hill and back from Glasgow. However it wasn't so nice at the top of Lowther Hill.....



I also took a photo of this slightly cheesy view, but hey, it's not something you see everyday!

Brian B

Thats exactly the same way it looked a few weeks back when I was there Captain. I begin to wonder if the weather is always like that up Lowther.

daowned

Captain Fagor wrote:

It was a nice day today - nice enough for a 113 mile run to Lowther Hill and back from Glasgow. However it wasn't so nice at the top of Lowther Hill.....

Sure did look bleak up on Lowther Hill that day Captain...you canny beat it tho I bet.

Whats a good route from Glasgow down would you say? Glasgow - East Kilbride - Strathaven - Murkirk - Douglas then on to Crawfordjohn down to Sanquhar up the Lowther Hill on to Abington back to Douglas then Glasgow?

No idea of the miles there, might do the 100+ ride down sometime this month if we get a half decent day on the weekend.

woodywmb

Didn't the Tour of Britain go that way in reverse on the way up from Dumfries? I'm sure they would have chosen the best roadie route.

Captain Fagor

daowned wrote:

Sure did look bleak up on Lowther Hill that day Captain...you canny beat it tho I bet.

Whats a good route from Glasgow down would you say? Glasgow - East Kilbride - Strathaven - Murkirk - Douglas then on to Crawfordjohn down to Sanquhar up the Lowther Hill on to Abington back to Douglas then Glasgow?

No idea of the miles there, might do the 100+ ride down sometime this month if we get a half decent day on the weekend.

daowned - that's similar to the outward bound route I do, except I turn right at Glespin and over the unclassified hilly country road which takes you to the B740, then turn right and go down to Sanquhar, then go for Lowther Hill, then Leadhills and back to Crawfordjohn over another unclassified hilly country road and retrace your outward bound route back to Glasgow via Muirkirk and Strathaven. It's hard-going 113 miles, and takes me 7hrs to 7.5hrs. Alternatively, you can do the 'loop' part of the circuit clockwise, which I sometimes do. At least it breaks the big climb up and gives different views.

daowned

Sure, think I would go to Abington and down the Mennock pass then up to Glespin for a change and cut out some work out if its going to come in at 115miles or so

I have only ever went clockwise going up Mennock pass, I',ll be sure to do it sometime in the coming weeks and get some pics if its snowing or something up there

scwxx77

I finally got hold of last weeks comic and was interested to see a piece about this new cyclo sportif in July which starts at Wanlockhead and finishes at the radar station on Lowther Hill.

Southern Upland Sportive

There is also the Drumlanrig Tearfund Challenge sportif on 3rd May which goes up there too.

Drumlanrig Tearfund Challenge

Brian B

scwxx77 wrote:

I finally got hold of last weeks comic and was interested to see a piece about this new cyclo sportif in July which starts at Wanlockhead and finishes at the radar station on Lowther Hill.

Southern Upland Sportive

There is also the Drumlanrig Tearfund Challenge sportif on 3rd May which goes up there too.

Drumlanrig Tearfund Challenge

I am doing both of these sportives. The SUS sportive looks good with an uphill finish at 105 miles. Its a nice climb too!

scwxx77

Brian B wrote:

I am doing both of these sportives. The SUS sportive looks good with an uphill finish at 105 miles. Its a nice climb too!

Yes, it looks like a spectacular finish. I plan on doing it next year as it looks like a bit of a stretch for me this year.