The Herald - The Herald Magazine
The walk North Pentlands
Location: Caerketton and Allermuir Hills, Midlothian Grade: Short but strenuous hillwalk Distance: 4 miles/7km Time: 3 hours
IT’S taken me years to get round to climbing these hills. Every time I drove round the Edinburgh Ring Road I gazed up at them and thought, One Day...’
I’ve now finally climbed them in a short but steep excursion from the Hillend ski slopes, and a thoroughly enjoyable little round it was with wonderful views across the city and even better views south across the Pentland tops of Turnhouse Hill, Carnethy Hill, Scald Law and the Kips.
Once again I was reminded how fortunate the good citizens of Edinburgh are to have such a fine range of hills right on their doorstep. And not just great wee hills but with loads of history, legend and culture too.
The Pentlands have been home to man for the past 5,000 years. Here you’ll find Bronze Age burial sites, prehistoric hill forts, signs of Roman occupation, battlegrounds that feature Covenanters and connections to such literary heroes as Allan Ramsay, Henry Cockburn, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. In 1927 writer Will Grant offered this message: “The more we tramp these breezy uplands the more friendly they become; and the more we love them, the more they give to us: their call is unmistakable, and their appeal is as varied as the sky of an April day.”
From the lower car park at the Hillend ski slopes a path (signposted to Boghall) parallels the road into the ski centre before turning left just in front of a flight of steps. From here it climbs remorselessly upwards through juniper bushes to a rounded summit with a bench your burning legs might well appreciate.
The bench is in a great position because no matter how your legs feel you’ll certainly want to stop for a few minutes to gaze at the view that is already opening up. It’s a good opportunity to gird your loins or whatever you do in preparation for the next climb which comes immediately after you go through a gate. This lung-buster takes you to the first of Caerketton Hill’s two tops before a gentle ridgewalk takes you to the higher top, with superb views all around you. The new Queensferry Crossing bridge can be seen from here, dwarfing the two older Forth crossings, and good old Arthur’s Seat proudly dominates the sprawling city below you. In the other directions the other tops of the Pentlands stretch out beyond the rounded Castlelaw Hill – Turnhouse, Carnethy, Scald Law and East and West Kip.
There’s a fairly twisty descent from Caerketton Hill down to a high bealach where a track runs south then south-east to Boghall. You could, if you so wished, use this as a descent route. There is a path that runs from just above Boghall back to Hillend.
I preferred to climb to Allermuir Hill, with its detailed view indicator, and then descend to the north, down gentle grassy slopes beneath the steeper slopes of Caerketton and finally beside the Swanston Burn to the quaint village of Swanston, complete with whitewashed, turfroofed cottages looking for all the world like something out of a Thomas Hardy novel. From Swanston a track ran alongside golf course fairways all the way back to the A702 where I followed the pavement back to the car park. CAMERON MCNEISH ROUTE PLANNER
Map: OS 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 66 (Edinburgh): Harveys 1:25,000 Superwalker XT25, The Pentland Hills
Distance: 4 miles/7km
Time: 3 hours
Start/Finish: Lower car park below the Midlothian Snowsports Centre at Hillend (GR: NT247668)
Transport: Regular bus services to Hillend from Edinburgh city centre (www. travelinescotland.com)
Information: Edinburgh VIC,
0845 22 55 121
Route: From lower car park at Hillend follow path that parallels the road and climb to a row of wooden steps. TL below steps (signed to Boghall) and climb to an obvious mound with a bench. Continue on path, over a rise and down to a little pass with a gate. Climb steeply to the first top of Caerketton. Continue along ridge to summit. Follow path W and zigzag down to a high col where another path runs L towards Boghall. Ignore this path, go straight ahead uphill, passing a path going R. This will be your descent path. Climb steeply to summit and view indicator on Allermuir. Return to earlier path that now bears L and drops below the north face of Caerketton Hill to a junction. Take middle path at a small stone bridge, signposted Swanston. Follow path downhill to a gate. Ignore sign marked “Path” and follow newer track down to Swanston village. TR in village and follow broad track back to A702 just north of Hillend. Follow pavement S to start point.