Craigmore is the hill that rises directly behind the Lodge Forest Visitor Centre, and the walk up it is the most honest bit of climbing in the immediate Aberfoyle area: 344m in 5.5km, mostly on forest tracks, with a viewpoint at the top that takes in the Menteith Hills, the Forth valley and the Campsies away to the south.
It is a good option when Loch Lomond is busy. The Lodge has parking, toilets and a café, the paths are managed by Forestry and Land Scotland and signed throughout, and the gradient is unrelenting enough that the crowds thin out within the first ten minutes.
Two to two and a half hours is realistic. The forest sections shelter you from the worst of the wind, which makes this a better choice than an exposed ridge on a rough day.
