The name Ochil, recorded as Okhel in the 13th Century, is of Pictish origin. The name may involve *ogel meaning, "a ridge". It is less likely that the name involves the adjective *uchel meaning "high, tall".
Geology
The Ochils are formed from a thick wedge of Devonian age volcanic and volcano-sedimentary rocks, rising up from below the lower Old Red Sandstone sedimentary rocks to the north and terminated to the south by the major southerly downthrowing Ochil Fault. The Ochil Volcanic Formation, a sub-unit of the Arbuthnott-Garvock Group, consists of basaltic andesite and trachyandesite lavas and related rock types erupted during the Early Devonian epoch. Parts of the lower slopes on the northern side around Blackford and Auchterarder are formed from a volcanic conglomerate. It is intruded by numerous dykes of micridiorite of Silurian/Devonian age which form a part of the North Britain Siluro-Devonian Calc-alkaline Dyke Suite. Intrusions of both mafic and felsic character are also found. The whole massif is heavily faulted with some valleys such as Alva Glen and Glen Sherup having been eroded along these lines. Glacial till covers much of the lower ground around and within the range and peat accumulations occur on the plateau surface particularly in the west.
Pictish folklore of the hills
Ancient folklore and historical documentation suggests that the Ochils once were inhabited by the Picts, or at least that a few Pictish settlements existed in the Ochil Hills. Castle Craig, a ruined ancient fort above the village of Mill Glen destroyed by industrial quarrying, was mentioned by local historian William Gibson in 1883 as being "a round Pictish fortress, the traces of which can still be distinctly seen."Old lore also told that some of the stones from the fort of Castle Craig were used in the construction of Stirling Castle, 7.8 miles to the west. Another item of folklore existing in the Ochil Hills is Katie Thirsty's Well, a sacred well shrouded in mythology. Local historians have struggled to discover exactly the identity of "Katie Thirsty", but Pictish researcher Ronald Henderson argues that "the name derives from a corruption of both St. Katherine of Alexandria and the Pictish King, Drust or Drustan ." He goes on to say "that the great crags of Dumyat less than a mile to the east is universally credited with being the last Pictish stronghold at the old hillfort there."
Windfarm in the Ochil Hills
An 18 turbine development, approved in June 2006, has been constructed at Green Knowes, south of Auchterarder, north of Glendevon about north of the Ben Thrush summit. Following approval in early 2007, the construction of a wind farmconsisting of thirteen 102 m turbines on Burnfoot Hill, which lies north of Tillicoultry and Ben Cleuch and to the south of the Upper Glendevon Reservoir has been completde. The site consists of: 15 x 2MW and 6 x 2.05MW turbines with a tip height of 100m. The windfarm is owned and run by EDF Renewables, who support the work of the through the Burnfoot Hill Community Fund with an annual donation of £5,000 guaranteed till 2039.
The Ochil Hills are home to the , a local division of the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland. The Ochils Mountain Rescue Team consists of 35 volunteer mountaineers with specialist training who "locate and recover people who find themselves in difficult situations in the outdoors."
Black Hill near Sherrifmuir is marked on OS Maps as “Black Hill", but has no distinguishable peak or summit, more of a slop leading onto Glentye Hill. Marked as 350 metres. Peat Hill, Lamb Hill, and Gled’s Nose are a selection of “hills” marked on OS Maps near NN 9768 0247. These hills have no distinguishable summit, disqualifying them as “peaks” in the Ochils, but rather they lead onto Glenquey Hill and Innerdownie respectively. Berry Hill and The Shank are marked as hills on OS maps, but fail to have distinguishable peaks. Rather, they lead onto the peak of Ben Shee as seen from Stirling Castle
