Central Pentlands, Lothian (Feb)

PLEASE NOTE: The GPX trace on this route is for use as a guide only, its accuracy may change depending on the scale of map you are using. Use in combination with judgement and a paper map. We have taken all reasonable steps to ensure these walks are safe and correctly described. However things do change and all outdoor activities involve a degree of risk. The publishers accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions or for any injuries or accidents that occur whilst following this walk. Trail magazine, Copyright Bauer Media Limited.




Distance 17km(10½ miles)
Total ascent 700m
Time 6 hours
Start/finish Pentland Hills Regional Park car park near the Flotterstone Inn (NT232630)
Nearest town Penicuik
Terrain clear paths all the way, sometimes stony and elsewhere grassy. A few steep ascents and descents on the hills, but they’re all fairly short-lived. Return along glen is via boggy paths and then a long easy finish on tarmac.

Accommodation Edinburgh Central SYHA hostel (0131) 524 2090
Public transport bus from Edinburgh bus station to the Flotterstone Inn on the A702: Traveline Scotland 0871 200 2233, www.travelinescotland.com 
Tourist info VisitScotland Information Centre Edinburgh 0845 225 5121
Best pub Flotterstone Inn (01968) 673717 


Rising quite literally from Edinburgh’s outskirts, the Pentlands offer hillwalking in a manageable, convenient package. Pint-sized they may be, but they’re bursting with character: steep-sided, close-packed and with wide-ranging views over the city, the sea and the rolling green skyline of the Southern Uplands. With easy bus links and nearby motorways, these hills could hardly be more accessible whether you live locally or are just passing through; yet up on their breezy spine you’re far from all the bustle.

The central ridge is the highest and best bit of the range, offering a multitopped switchback of a walk over a series of shapely little tops. Start from the olde-worlde Flotterstone Inn, then simply follow your nose along the high ground from Turnhouse Hill to West Kip – not the tallest of these summits, but the pointiest. Return via a short stretch of empty moorland, then along the steep-flanked glen of the Logan Burn with its woods and reservoirs. And don’t forget to look in on that pub!
Mines a Pint!

Barman Scott recommends Pentland IPA, a light and refreshing postwalk pint brewed just down the road from the Flotterstone Inn. “It’s the ale that most walkers seem to go for,” he says.
What about grub? “When they come off the hills people are usually looking for simple but filling dinners – Fish and chips or a steak and ale pie’ 
NT232630 Head up the glen from the car park, either on the (private) road or the adjacent woodland path. At a junction go left onto a track, then immediately left again to cross a footbridge over the Logan Burn. Follow the path uphill through cow pastures, along a well-defined little ridge with views down over the wooded glen. The slope steepens and you climb through a scattered band of trees towards Turnhouse Hill. The best-used path skirts slightly left of the first summit to reach the higher top beyond. Now follow the ridge crest path down into a gap, then up fairly steeply to the summit of Carnethy Hill.

NT203619 This is the Pentlands’ number two top. A huge (and presumably ancient) cairn here has been ransacked to build several stone-walled wind shelters. The path now descends a broad crest, steeply at first and then more gently, to reach the next dip in the skyline. Cross a fence and a lateral path here, then follow the partengineered path for the fairly stiff zigzagging climb onto Scald Law, the highest summit in the Pentland Hills.

NT191610 From here there’s a short stretch of strangely broad, grassy path before the trail becomes narrower and stonier, and makes a descending traverse across the hill’s north-west flank to another little col. Pass over East Kip then make the final short climb onto neighbouring West Kip. Small it may be, but with its distinctive airy summit ridge this is the best top in the range, a sort of Matterhorn of the Pentlands …if you close one eye and squint. A short, steep descent down the far side gains a farm track. Turn right onto this to loop around the boggy head of the Logan glen. As the track climbs towards a wall on the far rim of the glen, turn right onto a narrower trail.

NT168612 This heads roughly east-northeast across the heather cloaked flank of Hare Hill, with some muddy ground underfoot. There are good views of the hills you’ve just traversed. After just over 1km the path kinks right, then back left to descend into the little gorge of Green Cleugh; look out for the waterfall on the right. Take the obvious path in the floor of the glen to meet the tarmac road at a lonely house.

NT190620 Follow the road along the side of Loganlea Reservoir. The road then passes a couple of farms and a while later curves around the wooded shore of the bigger, prettier Glencorse Reservoir. Beyond Glen Cottage it’s a short easy stroll back to the car park. Have I mentioned the Flotterstone Inn yet? It’s just next door, if you’re ready for your pint of Pentland IPA...