White Coomb

This article is about the Scottish hill. For the English hill, see White Combe.

White Coomb
Highest point
Elevation821 m (2,694 ft)
Prominence374 m (1,227 ft)
ListingMa,Hu,Tu,Sim, C, D,CoH,DN,Y[1]
Geography
Map
LocationDumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Parent rangeMoffat Hills, Southern Uplands
OS gridNT 16321 15090
Topo mapOS Landranger 79

White Coomb is a hill in the Moffat Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Its broad summit is the highest point in the range and the registration county of Dumfriesshire, as well as being the fourth highest point in southern Scotland, however, despite this, it is largely concealed by other hills on all sides except its east and south east, making this the only direction from which its full scale can be seen.

White Coomb is most easily climbed from the National Trust for Scotland car park underneath the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall, on the A708 from Moffat to Selkirk, at NT 186146. The most direct route heads directly west up a steep ridge, but a more comfortable route follows a well built footpath above the north side of the waterfall. Above the waterfall, the fast flowing Tail Burn must be crossed to avoid a long detour; although there are plenty of natural stepping stones, spate or icy conditions may make their use dangerous. From across the stream, the best route through the peat and heather follows the course of a wall leading to the summit of Upper Tarnberry. From there, the east ridge, which is steep and craggy in places, leads to the broad summit.

An alternative ascent, described by the Daily Telegraph as one of "Britain's finest half-day and day walks", follows the Tail Burn to the outlet of Loch Skeen before ascending the ridge to Mid Craig, and passing Donald's Cleuch Head to reach the summit. The descent suggested is via Rough Craig and south to join the road and walk back to the start point.[2]

Subsidiary summits

The Database of British and Irish hills[3] lists 18 subsidiary summits of White Coomb.

Summit Height (m) Drop (m) Grid ref Notes[4]
White Coomb 821 374 NT163150 Ma,C,D,CoH, cairn
Cape Law 722 93 NT131150 D,GTC,sHu, fence corner
Carlavin Hill 736 23 NT142188 DT,sGT,
Carrifran Gans 757 42 NT159138 GTC,DT, no feature
Din Law 667 53 NT124157 GTC,DT, small cairn
Ellers Cleuch Rig 610 7 NT126166 xDT, no feature
Erie Hill 690 92 NT124187 D,GTC,sHu, cairn
Firthhope Rig 800 26 NT153153 DT,sCT, no feature
Firthybrig Head 764 7 NT158171 xDT, wall junction
Garelet Dod 698 126 NT126172 Hu,D,GTC, no feature
Garelet Hill 680 24 NT124201 DT,sGT, trig point: OS measurement
Great Hill 774 28 NT145163 DT,sCT,
Laird's Cleuch Rig [Lairds Cleuch Rig] 684 50 NT125196 GTC,DT,
Lochcraig Head 801 108 NT167176 Hu,CTC,D, cairn
Mid Craig 729 21 NT164164 sGT,
Molls Cleuch Dod 785 39 NT151179 CTC,D, cairn
Nickies Knowe 761 29 NT164191 DT,sGT, no feature
Saddle Yoke 735 30 NT144123 GTC,DT, small cairn
Under Saddle Yoke 745 128 NT142126 Hu,D,GTC, no feature
Mid Craig from Loch Skeen

References

  • The Corbetts and Other Scottish Hills, (SMC Guide) ISBN 0-907521-29-0
  1. ^ Chris Crocker. "Database of British and Irish Hills: user guide". Hills-database.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Britain's finest half-day and day walks: 18. Loch Skeen and White Coomb". Daily Telegraph. London. 25 September 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Database of British and Irish Hills". Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  4. ^ Abbreviations used: C = Corbett, CoH = County Top - Historic, CTC = Corbett Top of Corbett, D = Donald, Ma = Marilyn, GTC = Graham Top of Corbett, Hu = HuMP, sGT= sub-Graham Top, sHu = sub-HuMP, xGT = deleted Graham Top

55°25′21″N 3°19′25″W / 55.422578°N 3.323634°W / 55.422578; -3.323634