It’s a long drive up from Yorkshire to Scotland, and every time we drive north we plan in at least one stop where we can stretch our legs and take the dogs for a short walk. Why stop at a motorway services when quite often you’re driving through a beautiful part of the British countryside you wouldn’t normally get a chance to visit! Every time we head to the Highlands we pass the iconic Wallace Monument as the road skirts Stirling, and every time I see it I think ‘I’d love to stop there one day’. We finally managed to incorporate a stop off on our way up to the Cairngorms at the start of the month, after about 6 trips where we’d been side tracked by other parts of Scotland!
The Wallace Monument was built in the 19th century in memory of Scotland’s medieval warrior hero, William Wallace (if you’re not sure who that is, think Braveheart – although, a statue of William Wallace with Mel Gibson’s face at the site was repeatedly vandalised until it was covered with a metal cage, so clearly locals don’t think much of it). The monument is a towering 67 metres tall, perched on a hill overlooking Stirling and offering wonderful views of both the city and the Ochils.
Visitors can park for free in a large car park, where you can also find a cafe and gift shop (outdoor seating for dog owners), then a short but reasonably steep walk up hill will take you to the foot of the monument itself. If you purchased a ticket from the visitor centre, you can enter the tower to see a number of items said to have belonged to Wallace (including his sword). If you didn’t buy a ticket, you can still enjoy the views and reading the interesting information boards dotted along the trail.
Walking up to the tower doesn’t take long, and if you have a little more time to explore, it’s definitely worth venturing into the small woodland behind the monument. While the monument itself had a few people milling around, as soon as we stepped away from the main path we were pretty much the only people in sight. We followed this 1.5 mile circular route from Walkhighlands which took us just over an hour with plenty of time stopped to admire views. It certainly didn’t feel like we were right next to a city of nearly 40,000 people.
Dog friendly rating: 4/5. While dogs aren’t permitted in the inside areas of the visit centre or cafe, they are more than welcome on the trails and tracks around the monument. We didn’t come across any stiles on our walk – just watch out for a steep drop alongside the path at one point if you choose to follow the Walkhighlands route. We didn’t come across any water other than a doggy water bowl outside the cafe at the start.
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