UKC

I go running to improve my hill fitness, and I try to put in plenty of ascent in my runs because otherwise what's the point? I was idly thinking about that ascent adding up to the height of some of my favourite hills, and that got me wondering. What are some of the most iconic (or simply best known) UK hills across the range of heights? Say for each hundred metre height increment: 0-100m, 100-200m, ..., 1300-1345m

With a few minutes on Google I put together a completely arbitrary list based on my own walking experience, but I'd be interested to see other people's lists or find out exactly why I am wrong to put Whinlatter in the 500m category instead of your personal favourite midsize hummock.

Am Buachaille 65m
Old Man of Hoy 137m
Arthur's Seat 251m
Roseberry Topping 320m
Ilkley Moor 402m
Whinlatter 516m
High Willhays 621m
Whernside 736m
Goat Fell 874m
Scafell Pike 978m
Snowdon 1085m
Bidean nam Bian 1150m
Cairn Gorm 1244m
Ben Nevis 1345m

Also since most of my runs don't have more than a couple hundred metres ascent the bottom categories could probably be subdivided into fifty metre increments instead, but I don't know many protuberances that small. And of course once we stray from the British Isles we can extend upwards as far as Mars' 21,230m Olympus Mons, maybe stopping at a few other terrestrial mountains along the way...

In reply to DWilliamson:

Pillar in the 800m category, Scafell rather than Scafell Pike in the 900m category and surely Stac Pollaidh is better in the 600m category?

In reply to DWilliamson:

Similarly I'd put Suilven in the 700m group rather than a featureless lump if moorland.

In reply to LakesWinter:

Yep, reasonable suggestions. To be honest I struggled in the mid categories a bit - plenty of great hills spring to mind at 900m and above, but for some reason not so many stick in my memory further down the list. High Willhays and Whernside are just the highest points in Dartmoor and Yorkshire respectively.

In reply to DWilliamson:

Parkhouse Hill 360m
Chrome Hill 425m
Shuttlingsloe 502m
... are quite good. For my neck of the woods.

In reply to DWilliamson:

How about:

Glastonbury Tor - 158m (if you want a hill rather than a sea stack for that division)
Worcester Beacon (Malvern) - 425m
Pendle Hill - 557m

In reply to DWilliamson:
Something like:

Am Buachaille
Old Man of Hoy
Thorpe Cloud
Suilven
Pillar Rock
Great Gable
Scafell
Tryfan
Snowdon
Buachaille Etive Mor
Sgurr Nan Gillean
Liathach
Ben Nevis

Sorry, haven't bothered to look up heights.

In reply to DWilliamson:
Thanks for the suggestions, please keep them coming. Glastonbury Tor is a good one at the lower level, and I certainly feel like Tryfan and Sgurr nan Gillean should be on the list, Tricky that a lot of great hills fall around the same height, I guess with an arbitrary list like this that's always going to be a problem.

Marek, I don't think I've been up any of those, shows my ignorance on that part of the Peak District!

In reply to DWilliamson:

<100 Am Buachaille
100s OM of Hoy
200s Arthur's Seat
300s Sgurr of Eigg
400s Ben A'an
500s Haystacks
600s Stac Pollaidh
700s Suilven
800s The Cobbler
900s Tryfan
1000s Snowdon
1100s Lochnagar
1200s Cairngorm
1300s Nevis

Pains me to omit Liathach, but I guess Snowdon's celebrity gives it the edge for iconicity (if there's such a word

In reply to DWilliamson:

Personal bias, but I'd swap Whernside for Ingleborough every time. I feel the latter is more interesting in every way. Walking through the ring wall and around the hut circles is magical in the fog when no-one else is around.

In reply to DWilliamson:

Oh man, I do love The Cobbler and Lochnagar both. And yeah, Whernside is probably the least interesting of the big three in Yorkshire. I think Pen-y-ghent might be my favourite, that steep climb from Horton is always fun (apart from all the erosion).

In reply to DWilliamson:

Sugar loaf, cnicht, castle crag, pap of Glencoe

In reply to DWilliamson:

Nice idea. Here's my attempt - not iconic hills (although a few are), rather just favourites. Subjective as anything, but based on (a) no sea stacks, (b) hills I've climbed and really enjoyed:
<100 Queen's Park, Glasgow
100s Beinn Mhor south of Oban
200s Crich Stand hill
300s Ros Castle
400s Ben Tianavaig
500s Mither Tap of Bennachie
600s An Ruadh-mheallan
700s Marsco
800s Pillar
900s Sgorr Ruadh
1000s The Saddle
1100s An Riabhachan
1200s Braeriach
1300s Ben Macdui

In reply to DWilliamson:

And where is Yes Tor?

In reply to bouldery bits:

It's on Dartmoor.

In reply to DWilliamson:
My offering would be Greenwich Park Hill, atop which sits Greenwich Observatory, home of the Greenwich meridian, The British Empire, time, geography and all things.

One of the finest green spaces in our capital and at ~45m surely worthy of inclusion in the sub 100m category, even if it does mean toppling the lovely Am Buachaille from its eroding perch?

In reply to DWilliamson:
In the 200's I would nominate Cockleroy just Sth of Linlithgow. You can see Arran to the W and Bass Rock to the E from there.

In reply to DWilliamson:

Skirrid Mtn 486m on the most easterly edge of the Black Mountains. A really interesting little peak.

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

I love Cockleroy. Lots of other hills you can see, Ben Lomond, Vorlich etc, Ochils, the Fife Hills, Pentlands, Tinto, C Scotland and beyond is on view from this wee hill with a 10minute walk from the car park.

In reply to felt:


Class!

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

That's not so far from me, think I'll have to go and give it a look some time soon. Pretty sure I've been for a walk around the nearby loch before.

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:


Also good in those parts is the little rocky summit of Knock, near the Cairnpapple antiquity (likewise worth a visit). Knock is another good viewpoint and like Cockleroy has a toposcope on its summit.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:
Is that the wee point on one of the Bathgate back roads, with a 2minute walk from the road?

In reply to aln:


Yes, there's parking right beneath it. You can have a decent half-hour wander round Knock, the Cairnpapple trig (if you're Marilynbagging, although someone at the OS once told me they called it Ballencrieff Hill) and Cairnpapple proper. Binny Craig a few miles further east, north of Uphall, is also worth a visit. Interesting area generally.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

I've lived round there for a while. Interesting bumpy part of C Scotland/W Lothian.

In reply to DWilliamson:
Another one in the Hundreds group - Duncryne (142m) at the South end of Loch Lomond. This was Tom Weirs back doorstep and has fantastic views up the Loch and lots of birdlife.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

Beachy Head is pretty iconic at 150m or so.

In reply to DWilliamson:
I don't know about iconic but Carn LLidi (181 m) on the North Pembrokeshire coast is very picturesque and/or photogenic with great views.
Also Caer Caradoc (459m) above Church Stretton in Shropshire.