Moffat Hills
Encyclopedia
The Moffat hills are a range of hills in the Southern Uplands
of Scotland
. They form a distinctly triangular
shape with a west facing side, a north facing side, and a south-east facing side. It is 17 kilometres from east to west across this triangle and some 16 kilometres north to south. The town of Moffat
lies just south of the Moffat hills and along with Tweedsmuir
, at the northern extremity, is the only centre of population around these hills. In older maps you will find the northern part of the Moffat Hills being called the Tweedsmuir Hills.
and River Tweed
-the source of both these rivers (which are little more than 1 kilometre apart at source) lie on this boundary. The Annan runs south into the Solway Firth
but the Tweed heads north and then east to run through the border country to the North Sea
at Berwick-Upon-Tweed
.
Westward beyond the valley of the River Annan (Annandale) lies the main west coast corridor running northwards into Scotland, carrying the west coast railway line
and the M74 motorway. The next range of hills to the west is the Lowther hills
and Durisdeer hills, wherein lies the source of the River Clyde.
The A701 road
from Moffat
to Edinburgh
rises rapidly from Moffat and is soon high above Annandale. At Annanhead where the source of the River Annan is, the A701 reaches the height of 395 metres and looks down into the Devil's Beef Tub
. This is the watershed between the Annan and Tweed systems and it lies in the administrative region called Dumfries and Galloway
. The source of the Tweed is in Borders Region.
The regional boundary runs erratically eastward from Annanhead, then goes north around Loch Skeen
(or Skene) before heading south east to Birkhill Cottage in Moffatdale where the pioneering geologist Charles Lapworth
stayed from 1872 to 1877.
map) which runs from Tweedsmuir village to St Mary's Loch
, passing along the banks of the Talla Reservoir
and the Megget Reservoir
and rising to 450 metres by the Megget Stone. The hills to the north here are called the Manor or Tweedsmuir hills and the hills to the north west of the Moffat hills are called the Culters . There is a third reservoir within the Moffat hills area called the Fruid
where two Bronze Age round houses have been excavated in recent times and on the road from Tweedsmuir to the Fruid there are also standing stones. In 1885 when the Talla dam was being built they put in a railway to help get construction materials to the site.
in Perthshire. Where these two lochs almost join there is a monument to James Hogg
the Ettrick Shepherd, visit Tibbie Shiels Inn and then follow the Moffat Water down Moffatdale past the Grey Mare's Tail
waterfall.
The A708 Moffat to Selkirk road runs along this route twisting and turning through some spectacular scenery though with sheep wandering freely on the unfenced road you have to be careful on it. There is a project in progress to restore a wild woodland environment, as it would have been six thousand years ago, to the treeless Carrifran Glen.
The hill range to the south east of Moffatdale is called the Ettrick Hills and the Ettrick Water has its source in the middle of these hills before it runs north eastward to join the Yarrow Water at Philiphaugh
(where the Yarrow loses its name to the Ettrick). The head waters of the Yarrow are just east of Birkhill and the water from there runs through both Loch of the Lowes and St Mary's Loch. Once the Yarrow and the Ettrick Waters join they in turn lose their identity when they meet the River Tweed between Selkirk and Galashiels
.
in 2002, prior to that it had been an unwritten right by custom. In the Southern Uplands of Scotland there are plenty of wild places in which to exercise this right. The Moffat Hills range is up there with the very best of these.
s to be seen, and up onto Saddle Yoke which as the name implies has two tops with a short saddle between them. These tops are Saddle Yoke (just over 630 metres high ) and Under Saddle Yoke (745 metres.
From there descend to the water course in Whirly Gill before climbing to the top of Saddle Craigs at the head of the Blackhope Glen and just below Hartfell Rig (739 metres). An alternative to this is to go up onto the rig itself but that would be to miss the views from the top of the crags
that are Saddle Craigs.
Now climb to the summit of Hartfell (808 metres) and then follow the ridge from there back to Capplegill going over Swatte Fell (729 metres) en route. In other words this route goes up one side of the hills above Blackhope Glen and back down the other. The crags on this return leg are quite spectacular (particularly around Hound Shoulder) with views over the glen
to Saddle Yoke then Carrifran Gans (757 metres) and White Comb (821 metres and the highest hill in the Moffat hills) beyond.
Capplegill is also a useful access point to the Ettrick Hills which lie south of Moffatdale.
From there it is possible to either take in White Comb and Firthhope Rig (800 metres) in the next stage or, descend to the more interesting waterfalls around Firthhope Burn - White Comb can be saved for the Grey Mare's Tail routes. Around the waterfalls offers the best views and also some quite interesting terrain to scramble over - not only around the waterfalls themselves but also while crossing the face of the steep lower slopes of Firthhope Rig on the way up to Games Castle (a natural feature resembling a castle) and Rotten Bottom (the sump area for all the peat hags round about).
Now the route heads along the top of the crags of Raven Craig and Priest Craig (i.e. around the top of Carrifran Glen) and towards Saddle Yoke from where it makes its way down to where the car is parked. Here again the route goes up one side of a glen (Carrifran Glen) and back the other, along the tops above the glen.
car park and there is a path constructed by them up the side of the hill from there towards Loch Skeen to follow. There are plenty of warnings around this path of the fatalities which have occurred to those who have left the path to get a better view of the waterfall and slid down the steep sides of the hill. Because of the spectacular scenery, the walk up to Loch Skeen is very popular indeed with the casual visiting tourist, but really, proper hill walking footwear is necessary for this path. This is very often not the case for those who go there on impulse and not equipped for the terrain. There is a visitor centre by the car park where it is possible to "watch live" wild birds nesting - as viewed from a remote camera on the hillside.
From Loch Skeen there are a range of options open to the walker.
Any combination of these routes is of course possible.
The hills around Loch Skeen offer classic geological features of international interest. Loch Skeen has also been used successfully to try to preserve the endangered species of fish called the vendace which has a history in Britain going back to glacial times. There were vendace in the Lochmaben Lochs until as recently as 1963. As these lochs silted up and the vendace were threatened an unsuccessful attempt was made by Dr Peter Maitland of Stirling University to transfer some to Loch Trool in the Galloway hills
before they became extinct.
It is the heavily glaciated shapely landscape in these hills which offers such visual interest to the walker. The surface of Loch Skeen is 510 metres above sea level and as such is probably the highest loch of any great size in the South of Scotland.
Mostly the return route would be to just return by the route taken outwards, but it is possible to go down over Arthur's Seat to the River Annan at Ericstane, climb out of the other side of the valley and onto the A701 and hence back to Annanhead. The area in the valley around Ericstane is rich in ancient remains (settlements and burnt mounds) and before you get back to where the car is parked you will pass a monument above the Beef Tub to John Hunter of Tweedsmuir, a covenanter who was shot in 1685 while trying to escape from dragoons by climbing the side of the Beef Tub.
The sulphurous waters of Moffat Well were believed to have healing properties and during the Victorian era the high demand for this led to the water being piped down from the well to a specially built bath house in the town centre (now the Town Hall).
spring). The Borders Forest Trust took over ownership of Corehead in July 2009. They aim to return lost wildlife and habitats to Corehead and to conserve the unique character of the Devil’s Beef Tub. The hills and valleys were once cloaked with the native woodland which made up the Ettrick Forest.
From the MHMR hut follow the track towards the spa. After about one and a half kilometres the track enters the valley of the Auchencat Burn at a metal gate. From there descend from the path to the burn and choose one of the rough planks over the burn to cross it. From the burn climb to Swatte Fell, go on to Hartfell and come down over Arthur's Seat making for the gully above the spa. The descent down this gully to the spa is on steep slate-like scree and is quite interesting as is the spa itself. From there just follow the spa path back to the MHMR hut.
There are two ridges running in a southerly direction from here which can be taken into the Lochcraig Head area above Loch Skeen and it is quite possible to go out on one ridge and back on the other in a relatively undemanding day's walk. This walk can be lengthened slightly by taking in Dead For Cauld (575 metres) which offers fine views over the Megget reservoir. From there proceed over Port Hill (594 metres), Nickies Knowe (760 metres) and Talla East Side (777 metres) to Lochcraig Head. and back by Firthybrig Head (766 metres), Molls Cleuch Dod (785 metres) and Carlavin Hill (736 metres) to the Megget Stone.
Southern Uplands
The Southern Uplands are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas . The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to collectively denote the various ranges of hills within this region...
of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. They form a distinctly triangular
Triangle
A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....
shape with a west facing side, a north facing side, and a south-east facing side. It is 17 kilometres from east to west across this triangle and some 16 kilometres north to south. The town of Moffat
Moffat
Moffat is a former burgh and spa town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, lying on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. The most notable building in the town is the Moffat House Hotel, designed by John Adam...
lies just south of the Moffat hills and along with Tweedsmuir
Tweedsmuir
The village of Tweedsmuir is a village and civil parish situated from the source of the River Tweed, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland....
, at the northern extremity, is the only centre of population around these hills. In older maps you will find the northern part of the Moffat Hills being called the Tweedsmuir Hills.
Roads, hills and water systems to the west
The west facing side of the Moffat hills is bounded by the River AnnanRiver Annan
The River Annan is a river in southwest Scotland. It rises at the foot of Hart Fell, five miles north of Moffat. A second fork rises on Annanhead Hill and flows through the Devil's Beef Tub before joining at the Hart Fell fork north of Moffat.From there it flows past the town of Lockerbie, and...
and River Tweed
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is long and flows primarily through the Borders region of Great Britain. It rises on Tweedsmuir at Tweed's Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, and the Annan draining south also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" as the Border saying...
-the source of both these rivers (which are little more than 1 kilometre apart at source) lie on this boundary. The Annan runs south into the Solway Firth
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway, on the western end of Dumfries and Galloway. The Isle of Man is also very...
but the Tweed heads north and then east to run through the border country to the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
at Berwick-Upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....
.
Westward beyond the valley of the River Annan (Annandale) lies the main west coast corridor running northwards into Scotland, carrying the west coast railway line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
and the M74 motorway. The next range of hills to the west is the Lowther hills
Lowther Hills
The Lowther Hills, also sometimes known as the Lowthers, are an extensive area of hill country in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, though some sub ranges of hills in this area also go under their own local names - see "Hill Walking" below. They form a roughly rhomboidal or lozenge shape on the map...
and Durisdeer hills, wherein lies the source of the River Clyde.
The A701 road
A701 road
-Route:The A701 leaves Dumfries and travels north to meet the A74 at Beattock. It thens joins the A74 for a short spell before branching off to the north-east towards Moffat and ultimately Edinburgh....
from Moffat
Moffat
Moffat is a former burgh and spa town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, lying on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. The most notable building in the town is the Moffat House Hotel, designed by John Adam...
to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
rises rapidly from Moffat and is soon high above Annandale. At Annanhead where the source of the River Annan is, the A701 reaches the height of 395 metres and looks down into the Devil's Beef Tub
Devil's Beef Tub
The Devil's Beef Tub is a deep, dramatic hollow in the hills north of the Scottish town of Moffat. The 500-foot deep hollow is formed by four hills, Great Hill , Peat Knowe, Annanhead Hill, and Ericstane Hill. It is one of the two main sources of the River Annan; the other is from the...
. This is the watershed between the Annan and Tweed systems and it lies in the administrative region called Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
. The source of the Tweed is in Borders Region.
The regional boundary runs erratically eastward from Annanhead, then goes north around Loch Skeen
Loch Skeen
Loch Skeen is a loch in Dumfries and Galloway in the south of Scotland. It is located about 10 miles to the north-east of Moffat and feeds the 60-metre high Grey Mare's Tail waterfall...
(or Skene) before heading south east to Birkhill Cottage in Moffatdale where the pioneering geologist Charles Lapworth
Charles Lapworth
Charles Lapworth was an English geologist.-Biography:He was born at Faringdon in Berkshire and educated as a teacher at the Culham Diocesan Training College near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. He moved to the Scottish border region, where he investigated the previously little-known fossil fauna of the area...
stayed from 1872 to 1877.
Roads, hills and water systems to the north
The north facing side of the Moffat Hills is bounded by a minor road (no road number on the Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
map) which runs from Tweedsmuir village to St Mary's Loch
St Mary's Loch
St Mary's Loch is the largest natural loch in the Scottish Borders, and is situated on the A708 road between Selkirk and Moffat, about south of Edinburgh. It is long and wide, and was created by glacial action during the last ice age...
, passing along the banks of the Talla Reservoir
Talla Reservoir
Talla Reservoir, located a mile from Tweedsmuir, Scottish Borders, Scotland, is an earth-work dam fed by Talla Water. The reservoir is supplemented by water from the nearby Fruid Reservoir...
and the Megget Reservoir
Megget Reservoir
Megget Reservoir is a man-made water body in Ettrick Forest, in the Scottish Borders. The reservoir is held back by the largest earth dam in Scotland. The reservoir collects water from the Tweedsmuir Hills, which is then conveyed via pipelines to Edinburgh...
and rising to 450 metres by the Megget Stone. The hills to the north here are called the Manor or Tweedsmuir hills and the hills to the north west of the Moffat hills are called the Culters . There is a third reservoir within the Moffat hills area called the Fruid
where two Bronze Age round houses have been excavated in recent times and on the road from Tweedsmuir to the Fruid there are also standing stones. In 1885 when the Talla dam was being built they put in a railway to help get construction materials to the site.
Roads, hills and water systems to the south-east
The south-east facing side of the Moffat Hills runs down the shore of St Mary's Loch and Loch of the Lowes - not to be confused with Loch of the LowesLoch of the Lowes
Loch of the Lowes is a loch near Dunkeld in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The loch and the surrounding area are designated as a wildlife reserve, run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust....
in Perthshire. Where these two lochs almost join there is a monument to James Hogg
James Hogg
James Hogg was a Scottish poet and novelist who wrote in both Scots and English.-Early life:James Hogg was born in a small farm near Ettrick, Scotland in 1770 and was baptized there on 9 December, his actual date of birth having never been recorded...
the Ettrick Shepherd, visit Tibbie Shiels Inn and then follow the Moffat Water down Moffatdale past the Grey Mare's Tail
Grey Mare's Tail
Grey Mare's Tail is a hanging valley waterfall near to Moffat in southern Scotland. The fall is produced by the Tail Burn flowing from Loch Skeen cascading into the Moffat Water in the lower valley below....
waterfall.
The A708 Moffat to Selkirk road runs along this route twisting and turning through some spectacular scenery though with sheep wandering freely on the unfenced road you have to be careful on it. There is a project in progress to restore a wild woodland environment, as it would have been six thousand years ago, to the treeless Carrifran Glen.
The hill range to the south east of Moffatdale is called the Ettrick Hills and the Ettrick Water has its source in the middle of these hills before it runs north eastward to join the Yarrow Water at Philiphaugh
Battle of Philiphaugh
The Battle of Philiphaugh was fought on 13 September 1645 during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. The Royalist army of the Marquess of Montrose was destroyed by the Covenanter army of Sir David Leslie, restoring the power of the Committee of Estates.-Prelude:When...
(where the Yarrow loses its name to the Ettrick). The head waters of the Yarrow are just east of Birkhill and the water from there runs through both Loch of the Lowes and St Mary's Loch. Once the Yarrow and the Ettrick Waters join they in turn lose their identity when they meet the River Tweed between Selkirk and Galashiels
Galashiels
Galashiels is a burgh in the Scottish Borders, on the Gala Water river. The name is often shortened to "Gala" .Galashiels is a major commercial centre for the Scottish Borders...
.
Freedom of access
Freedom of Access, the right to roam where you choose, was written into the Scottish Constitution by the new Scottish ParliamentScottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
in 2002, prior to that it had been an unwritten right by custom. In the Southern Uplands of Scotland there are plenty of wild places in which to exercise this right. The Moffat Hills range is up there with the very best of these.
Points of access
With this freedom of access it is theoretically possible to enter these hills anywhere one chooses; but in practice, in most cases, a car has to be parked somewhere and this immediately cuts down the options since the roads on all three sides are not at all suitable for random parking for any length of time. Besides this there are a number of particularly useful points of entry to the hills depending on what area of the hills is to be visited. We will consider these points of access based on the three-sided triangle described above and so we have access from; Moffatdale in the south east, Annandale in the west and the Megget stone in the north. These are the most scenically interesting and challenging entry points and the ones that most walkers would choose. Coming in from the direction of the River Tweed the landscape is nothing like so dramatic.Access from Moffatdale
The routes from Moffatdale into the hills would generally be recognised to be the most spectacular because of the variety of scenery and general quality (and variety) of walking interest they offer. There are three main points of entry from Moffatdale; Capplegill, Carrifran and Grey Mare's Tail.From Capplegill
The Blackhope Burn joins Moffat Water close to a farm called Capplegill (OS. Ref. NT147098) on the A708. Just to the north east of Capplegill (roughly 150 metres) there is room for a car or two to park by Blackshope house. The classic walk from here is to head north from where you are parked passing through a field where there are usually Belted GallowayBelted Galloway
The Belted Galloway is a rare beef breed of cattle originating from Galloway in South West Scotland, adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and windswept moorlands of the region...
s to be seen, and up onto Saddle Yoke which as the name implies has two tops with a short saddle between them. These tops are Saddle Yoke (just over 630 metres high ) and Under Saddle Yoke (745 metres.
From there descend to the water course in Whirly Gill before climbing to the top of Saddle Craigs at the head of the Blackhope Glen and just below Hartfell Rig (739 metres). An alternative to this is to go up onto the rig itself but that would be to miss the views from the top of the crags
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
that are Saddle Craigs.
Now climb to the summit of Hartfell (808 metres) and then follow the ridge from there back to Capplegill going over Swatte Fell (729 metres) en route. In other words this route goes up one side of the hills above Blackhope Glen and back down the other. The crags on this return leg are quite spectacular (particularly around Hound Shoulder) with views over the glen
Glen
A glen is a valley, typically one that is long, deep, and often glacially U-shaped; or one with a watercourse running through such a valley. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower than a strath."...
to Saddle Yoke then Carrifran Gans (757 metres) and White Comb (821 metres and the highest hill in the Moffat hills) beyond.
Capplegill is also a useful access point to the Ettrick Hills which lie south of Moffatdale.
From Carrifran
There is parking associated with Carrifran Wildwood project at OS Ref NT163117 which can be used for this route. It is a steep climb from there to the top of Carrifran Gans (nearly 670 metres in 2 kilometres).From there it is possible to either take in White Comb and Firthhope Rig (800 metres) in the next stage or, descend to the more interesting waterfalls around Firthhope Burn - White Comb can be saved for the Grey Mare's Tail routes. Around the waterfalls offers the best views and also some quite interesting terrain to scramble over - not only around the waterfalls themselves but also while crossing the face of the steep lower slopes of Firthhope Rig on the way up to Games Castle (a natural feature resembling a castle) and Rotten Bottom (the sump area for all the peat hags round about).
Now the route heads along the top of the crags of Raven Craig and Priest Craig (i.e. around the top of Carrifran Glen) and towards Saddle Yoke from where it makes its way down to where the car is parked. Here again the route goes up one side of a glen (Carrifran Glen) and back the other, along the tops above the glen.
From Grey Mare's Tail
Parking at the Grey Mare's Tail is in the National Trust for ScotlandNational Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland describes itself as the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to...
car park and there is a path constructed by them up the side of the hill from there towards Loch Skeen to follow. There are plenty of warnings around this path of the fatalities which have occurred to those who have left the path to get a better view of the waterfall and slid down the steep sides of the hill. Because of the spectacular scenery, the walk up to Loch Skeen is very popular indeed with the casual visiting tourist, but really, proper hill walking footwear is necessary for this path. This is very often not the case for those who go there on impulse and not equipped for the terrain. There is a visitor centre by the car park where it is possible to "watch live" wild birds nesting - as viewed from a remote camera on the hillside.
From Loch Skeen there are a range of options open to the walker.
- To go round Loch Skeen over Lochcraig Head (just over 800 metres) - which involves a 280 metre climb from the loch level - and continue along the tops to White Comb and then back down to where the Tail Burn runs out of the loch and thence back to the car park.
- Between Lochcraig Head and White Comb there is a small but characterful ridge that can be taken up or down over Mid Craig (729 metres) with access from the point where the Tail Burn exits from the Loch. Using this it is possible to go either left to White Comb or right to Lochcraig Head from the top of the ridge. Mid Craig ridge is therefore like the shorter middle horizontal stroke in a letter "E" with White Comb and Lochcraig Head being the longer ridges at either end of the "E" and Firthybrig Head ridge being its back. This layout of these ridges allows for a choice of routes in itself.
- It is possible to head directly from White Comb back down to the car park - though the final descent into Moffatdale on this route is steep and not advised in slippy conditions whether wet or icy. However you can get some interesting views of the Grey Mare's Tail at the top of that descent.
Any combination of these routes is of course possible.
The hills around Loch Skeen offer classic geological features of international interest. Loch Skeen has also been used successfully to try to preserve the endangered species of fish called the vendace which has a history in Britain going back to glacial times. There were vendace in the Lochmaben Lochs until as recently as 1963. As these lochs silted up and the vendace were threatened an unsuccessful attempt was made by Dr Peter Maitland of Stirling University to transfer some to Loch Trool in the Galloway hills
Galloway Hills
The Galloway hills are part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland, and form the northern boundary of western Galloway. They lie within the bounds of Galloway Forest Park, an area of some of largely uninhabited wild land, managed by the Forestry Commission...
before they became extinct.
It is the heavily glaciated shapely landscape in these hills which offers such visual interest to the walker. The surface of Loch Skeen is 510 metres above sea level and as such is probably the highest loch of any great size in the South of Scotland.
From Annanhead
The classic route here is to park at Annanhead above the Devil's Beef Tub (room for several vehicles there) and walk up over Annanhead Hill (478 metres), Great Hill (466 metres) and Chalk Rig Edge to Whitehope Heights (637 metres), a route which goes round the top of the Beef Tub. From Whitehope Heights most walkers would choose to go on to the top of Hartfell.Mostly the return route would be to just return by the route taken outwards, but it is possible to go down over Arthur's Seat to the River Annan at Ericstane, climb out of the other side of the valley and onto the A701 and hence back to Annanhead. The area in the valley around Ericstane is rich in ancient remains (settlements and burnt mounds) and before you get back to where the car is parked you will pass a monument above the Beef Tub to John Hunter of Tweedsmuir, a covenanter who was shot in 1685 while trying to escape from dragoons by climbing the side of the Beef Tub.
From Moffat Well
Park at Moffat Well some 2 kilometres north of the town of Moffat (after finding your way through the back streets of Moffat to get there) and then head up over Greygill Head (474 metres) and Blue Cairn (584 metres) to Swatte Fell. From there most walkers would probably want to go to Hartfell. On the return leg head back to Birnock Cloves just to the south of Swatte Fell summit and from there down Birnock Water back to Moffat Well.The sulphurous waters of Moffat Well were believed to have healing properties and during the Victorian era the high demand for this led to the water being piped down from the well to a specially built bath house in the town centre (now the Town Hall).
From the Moffat hills mountain rescue (MHMR) hut
To get to the MHMR hut proceed towards the Beef tub from Moffat town centre and take a right turn at the mini roundabout by the school before reaching the 30 miles per hour sign. This is a minor road which goes through to Corehead - right in the Beef Tub itself. The MHMR hut is on your right some four and a half kilometres along this road near a sign for "Hartfell Spa" (where there is a ChalybeateChalybeate
Chalybeate waters, also known as ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron.-Name:The word "chalybeate" is derived from the Latin word for steel, "chalybs", which follows from the Greek word "khalups"...
spring). The Borders Forest Trust took over ownership of Corehead in July 2009. They aim to return lost wildlife and habitats to Corehead and to conserve the unique character of the Devil’s Beef Tub. The hills and valleys were once cloaked with the native woodland which made up the Ettrick Forest.
From the MHMR hut follow the track towards the spa. After about one and a half kilometres the track enters the valley of the Auchencat Burn at a metal gate. From there descend from the path to the burn and choose one of the rough planks over the burn to cross it. From the burn climb to Swatte Fell, go on to Hartfell and come down over Arthur's Seat making for the gully above the spa. The descent down this gully to the spa is on steep slate-like scree and is quite interesting as is the spa itself. From there just follow the spa path back to the MHMR hut.
Access from the Megget Stone
The Megget Stone (OS. Ref. NT152203) is by a cattle grid at the highest point between the Talla and Megget reservoirs on the minor road which runs from Tweedsmuir on the A701 to Cappercleuch by shore of St Mary's Loch. It is quite easy to miss the stone when coming from Talla as it is hidden by the gate. At an elevation of over 430 metres parking here offers a high starting point whether into the Manor hills to the north or the Moffat hills to the south of it. No specific folklore or other traditions have been found associated with this stone but it is likely that, being at the watershed as it is, the spot would have been used as a meeting place or tryst, as are similar places throughout the Scottish Borders.There are two ridges running in a southerly direction from here which can be taken into the Lochcraig Head area above Loch Skeen and it is quite possible to go out on one ridge and back on the other in a relatively undemanding day's walk. This walk can be lengthened slightly by taking in Dead For Cauld (575 metres) which offers fine views over the Megget reservoir. From there proceed over Port Hill (594 metres), Nickies Knowe (760 metres) and Talla East Side (777 metres) to Lochcraig Head. and back by Firthybrig Head (766 metres), Molls Cleuch Dod (785 metres) and Carlavin Hill (736 metres) to the Megget Stone.
Further reading
- Andrew K.M. and Thrippleton A.A. (1972) The Southern Uplands. The Scottish Mountaineering Trust sbn 901516 57 0
- Hall, Allan (Third Edition 2005) The Border Country - A Walker's Guide. Cumbria: Cicerone ISBN 1 85284 459 0
- Jackson, Peter (1995) The Scottish Borders - 25 Walks. Edinburgh HMSO ISBN 0 11 495218 3
- Marsh, Terry (1988) On Foot in Southern Scotland. Devon: A David and Charles Book ISBN 0 7153 0161 8
- Williams, David (1989) A Guide to the Southern Upland Way. London: A Constable Guide ISBN 0 09 467910 X