Lowther Hill road
OverTheHillAt21
Posts: 102
Can someone describe the condition of the road up to Lowther Hill? It isn't listed on the wikipedia list of highest paved public roads in Scotland* but I'm not sure if its because of the surface or because access is restricted (no cars I think someone said)? Thinking of having a go up it but on my brand new shiny road bike 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_highest_roads_in_Scotland
*the lower bit up to Wanlockhead is there at 10th.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_highest_roads_in_Scotland
*the lower bit up to Wanlockhead is there at 10th.
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It's a great climb, but the last section is pretty hard going! Good view once you're up there though.
i did it as part of a 100 mile route coming from Hamilton - Strava link below. if you check out the elevation profile below you can't fail to spot the hill! The full climb from the bottom of the Mennock Pass to the top of that and then on to Lowther Hill and up to the summit of that too just off 600m in total.
http://www.strava.com/activities/65353984#
Mennock Pass is fairly steady for the most part but quite draining with a few steeper ramps as you get to the top. Made tougher by having 75km in the legs already.
Lowther Hill starts off with a couple of ramps then levels out for a bit before you hit the switchbacks. Then it's 10% up to over 20% into the corners to get you up to the radar station itself. I did it back in July and it was around 26 degrees up there - i was fairly cooked by the time i made it up.
If you're looking for another good climb in the area, check out this one up to the transmitter on the hill above Sanquhar as well:
http://www.strava.com/segments/1838525
I did that a couple of weeks earlier - it's 6km up a dead end road but at a constant 5% gradient. Quite unusual for a climb in Scotland, in that there's hardly any variation in gradient the whole way up.