Waking up at Murrayshall, a four-star country house hotel, near Scone in Perthshire, Scotland, I drew back the curtains to see a surprisingly thick blanket of snow covering the estate and the countryside in an area is known as “The Gowrie”. The plan for the morning was a trail run over a few local hills and through woodland.
Well, this had been the plan but I needed to check with a local friend Erni to see if she was still keen. In fact, I wanted to check if she could still make the drive through the snow on the quiet back road from her home in Scone to Murrayshall.
A quick message exchange revealed she was totally up for it. “It’s only a bit of weather,” she replied.
I was sharing my mini break in Perthshire, mid-distance between our homes, with my Glasgow pal Lynsey and she also confirmed she was still very keen to run.
Also read about my stay at Murrayshall Hotel.
Obelisk Snowy trails
Dressed for the weather: Winter trail running
Running in snow can be a delight, especially if it’s fresh snow. We wore trail running footwear, Dexshell waterproof socks, running tights/ Flanci skapri, baselayers and a waterproof running jacket. I was testing the Montane Spine waterproof jacket, while Lynsey was trialling The North Face Lightriser Futurelight waterproof jacket for me.
We added warm headwear, inov-8 mitts and took a rucksack each with various bits an pieces of safety and emergency kit.
Running trails, hills and woodland trails
For much of the run the wider and more distant views were obscured by mist and heavy snow clouds but Erni kept up an amusing commentary of what we would see on a fine days, including vistas of the River Tay, the city of Perth and the more distant mountain peaks, such as Schiehallion.
However, we still greatly enjoyed the close-up views of snow-covered trees, fields, hills, paths and a surprisingly expansive range of hill-top markess, including a monument, two follies, a cairn and a trig pillar.
Erni knows her way about the trails and we happily followed on a route that extended to around 15.5km and a total ascent of 650m.
The route: Murrayshall trail run
Heading south-east from the hotel, we ran on winding and gently undulating paths through the hotel’s 27-hole parkland golf course and into woodland. The first goal was the summit of Murrayshall Hill at 279m elevation.
On top is the striking Lynedoch Obelisk, which commemorates the life of local landowner General Thomas Graham, who was the 1st Baron Lynedoch (1748 to 1843). He was an important military figure during the Napoleonic Wars.
Note: You could do a shorter walk or run.
Traversing around the hill to the south and then west, we then visited another local landmark, the MacDuff Monument. It was built as a folly in the 18th century by the MacDuff family, landowners at nearby Bonhard House. The folly is now in ruins but it looked stunning covering in snow.
Carrying on south-west, we joined a section of an ancient right of way called the Coronation Road The name suggests it might have been used by ancient kings on their way to be crowned at Scone Palace.
We headed into the north-eastern end of Deuchny Wood, where a network of trails criss-cross the Woodland Trust parkland. There are dedicated Deuchny Hill Bike Park mountain biking trails, as well as paths for walkers and runners.
We followed beautiful tracks through mature beech and pine trees on the southern limits of the woods.
On to Kinnoull Hill
Our next target was Kinnoull Hill and another folly in the shape of a ruined tower. This landmark, set at around 200m elevation on a clifftop escarpment above the River Tay, also dates to the 18th century and is said to have been inspired by the castles along the Rhine River in Germany.
Note: If you choose you could do a four-mile walk from Perth to Kinnoull Hill.
Erni was keen to tell us about the “usually amazing” views from here down over the Tay and towards Perth. I will be back one day to see the vistas she was talking about.
During our run we had to “make do” with the very atmospheric vista of the tower set against a snow-could sky. I actually loved the drama.
The true summit of the hill is at 222m where there is a trig pillar and two information markers, one that details the history of the area and the other that exhibits the view that you might see if the cloud wasn’t there. Again, Erni told us about what you could see including the Tay valley, the river, the woods, hills and the Highland mountains in the distance.
We headed back towards Murrayshall in a more northerly direction, enjoying more new trails in the woodland.
We climbed again past the MacDuff Monument by traversing north-easterly around the first hill we had visited earlier in the day.
The final section was on the same route that we had set out on some nine miles before. The clouds began to lift and we were treated to a little of the vistas that Erni had been telling about.
Warming up at Murrayshall
Reaching the grounds of Murrayshall again, Lynsey and I said our thank yous and goodbyes to Erni, before we headed inside the warm hotel.
While the scenery had been picture-postcard beautiful it had also been wet, snowy and chilly.
We felt extremely welcomed as the staff encouraged us to sit by an open fire to dry out and warm up. They provided towels so we could dry off, plus coffees.
I would recommend this route on Perthshire trails. See OS Maps and Strava. Alson see my review of Murrayshall.