White Coomb


White Coomb is a hill in the Moffat Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. The ridges are broad, but are defended by steep valleys. Its summit is the highest point in the range and the registration county of Dumfriesshire, however, despite this, it is concealed by other hills on all sides except its east and south east, making this the only direction from which its full scale can be seen.
White Coomb is most easily climbed from the National Trust for Scotland car park underneath the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall, on the A708 from Moffat to Selkirk, at NT 186146. The most direct route heads directly west up a steep ridge, but a more comfortable route follows a well built footpath above the north side of the waterfall. Above the waterfall, the fast flowing Tail Burn must be crossed to avoid a long detour; although there are plenty of natural stepping stones, spate or icy conditions may make their use dangerous. From across the stream, the best route through the peat and heather follows the course of a wall leading to the summit of Upper Tarnberry. From there, the east ridge, which is steep and craggy in places, leads to the broad summit.
An alternative ascent, described by the Daily Telegraph as one of "Britain's finest half-day and day walks", follows the Tail Burn to the outlet of Loch Skeen before ascending the ridge to Mid Craig, and passing Donald's Cleuch Head to reach the summit. The descent suggested is via Rough Craig and south to join the road and walk back to the start point.

Subsidiary summits

The Database of British and Irish hills lists 18 subsidiary summits of White Coomb.
SummitHeight Drop Grid refNotes
White Coomb821374NT163150Ma,C,D,CoH, cairn
Cape Law72293NT131150D,GTC,sHu, fence corner
Carlavin Hill73623NT142188DT,sGT,
Carrifran Gans75742NT159138GTC,DT, no feature
Din Law66753NT124157GTC,DT, small cairn
Ellers Cleuch Rig6107NT126166xDT, no feature
Erie Hill69092NT124187D,GTC,sHu, cairn
Firthhope Rig80026NT153153DT,sCT, no feature
Firthybrig Head7647NT158171xDT, wall junction
Garelet Dod698126NT126172Hu,D,GTC, no feature
Garelet Hill68024NT124201DT,sGT, trig point: OS measurement
Great Hill77428NT145163DT,sCT,
Laird's Cleuch Rig 68450NT125196GTC,DT,
Lochcraig Head801108NT167176Hu,CTC,D, cairn
Mid Craig72921NT164164sGT,
Molls Cleuch Dod78539NT151179CTC,D, cairn
Nickies Knowe76129NT164191DT,sGT, no feature
Saddle Yoke73530NT144123GTC,DT, small cairn
Under Saddle Yoke745128NT142126Hu,D,GTC, no feature