Tinto

About Tinto

Tinto stands alone in the south of the Central Lowlands, just north of the Southern Uplands, on the west bank of the Clyde some eight kilometres west of Biggar. It amounts to little more than a single top, near the villages of Thankerton and Wiston.

The name, sometimes given as Tinto Tap, may come from the Gaelic teinnteach, meaning fiery — a reference either to the hill's past use as a beacon or to the red felsite exposed across its flanks, which catches the light of a setting sun. It is also called the Hill of Fire.

Tinto Cairn on the summit is 45 m across and 6 m high, among the largest Bronze Age round cairns in Scotland and unusual for sitting so high. An old Scots rhyme speaks of a kist, or chest, in the mist at Tintock tap. The hill is also one of the leading Scottish sites for hang gliding and paragliding.

Background written from facts in the Wikipedia article on Tinto (CC BY-SA 4.0). Heights, prominence and grid references come from the Database of British & Irish Hills, not from Wikipedia.

Access rights here

General position for Scotland — local byelaws, seasonal restrictions and closures can override it. Full details: access rights in Scotland ·check another location.

Daylight at this summit today

Sunrise

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Sunset

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Daylight

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Civil twilight ends

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Computed astronomically for 55.592, -3.663. Plan your finish with the daylight safety planner.

Finding the summit

The recorded summit point is very large cairn. That distinction matters on broad or flat tops, where the obvious cairn is not always the true high point.

Survey method

Leica RX1250

Record revised

18-Dec-22

Drop measured from

NS840201 · 269 m

Survey notes are field observations recorded in the Database of British & Irish Hills (v18.3, CC BY 4.0) by the hill-surveying community.

Get food nearby

3 places to eat or drink within 10 km of the summit, rated under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (Scotland runs its own Food Hygiene Information Scheme, a pass/fail equivalent).

Classifications and ratings are the local authority's own and can be coarse — this is a lead, not a guarantee of opening hours or that food is served to non-residents. Follow a name through to the official rating page to check, and confirm before you rely on it.

Food hygiene data from the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland (Open Government Licence v3.0). Distances and directions computed by OpenFell from the summit.

Nearest listed peaks