Hikes through history

Gentle strolls for the family in Park or Peel

Two of the unique outdoor spaces looked after by our Ranger Service are perfect for gentle saunters with the family.

The lochs and the surrounding parkland of Holyrood Park are great places to spot wildlife and are served by an excellent network of paths. The historic High Road is a smooth circular route that climbs around Arthur's Seat offering panoramic views of Edinburgh, Fife and the East Lothian coast. Dunsapie Loch is perfectly located for a rest stop around half way around.

Off-road options include a walk to the ruins of St Anthony's Chapel, or to the summit of the iconic Arthur's Seat. Be sure to wear suitable footwear as it gets steep and rocky towards the top! Quieter paths crisscross Hunter's Bog and the Galloping Glen - at times you could forget you were in the middle of a capital city!

The peel and loch surrounding Linlithgow Palace is a nice, easy walk with lots of interest and wildlife, perfect for families.  If you're feeding the ducks, you can help keep the birds healthy by feeding them frozen peas, oats or seeds. Bread isn’t great for them!

A 47 mile (75km) trail made up of four sections with plenty of Roman sites to stroll around in between.

The Antonine Wall stretches across Scotland from the Clyde to the Forth so there are lots of interesting sites to visit, from Old Kilpatrick in the west to Carriden in the east.

Rough Castle is the second-smallest fort on the wall, but it’s in the best state of preservation. 

As you ramble amongst the lumps and bumps of this monument, imagine what life would have been like for the Roman soldiers who built and occupied the wall from around 142-165 AD. Around 7,000 soldiers were stationed on the Antonine Wall, from countries as far away as modern Syria, Spain and Algeria. What would they would have made of the Scottish winter?!

One of our lesser known Roman sites is Muir o’Fauld Signal Station. It’s accessed via an unassuming woodland footpath close to Trinity Gask in Perthshire. Muir o’Fauld dates to AD 79–80 and was a watchtower on the Gask Ridge Roman frontier.

The Antonine Wall website has some suggested walking and cycling routes.

You’ll need some sturdy footwear but these walks shouldn’t be too taxing if you’re relatively fit.

Balvaird Castle

It's an easy, but sometimes steep, five minute walk to the castle 

There’s a braw walk up to Balvaird Castle. This tower house was likely built in the late 1400s. The castle tells the story of the rising fortunes of the Murrays of Balvaird – as they climbed the aristocratic ladder, they made extensive improvements to the castle, including some fancy loos which were impressive for the time!

Ruthven Barracks

Sitting proudly on its hilltop, the strategic importance of Ruthven Barracks is obvious.

Visible from miles around, it dominates the head of the Spey valley. The barracks were built by George II’s government between 1719 and 1721 following the Jacobite rising of 1715. Head up here for spectacular views and a good chance of spotting deer.

The Peel Ring of Lumphanan 

A much, much shorter – but steep – climb takes you to the top of the Peel Ring of Lumphanan.

Tucked away beside the Aberdeenshire village of Lumphanan, the Peel Ring is the site of an early timber castle which was once surrounded by a moat. The castle was once believed to have been the seat of Macbeth, but excavations later revealed it was built some 200 years after his death.

It’s not the only local spot associated with the famous King of Scotland, who is said to have been mortally wounded at the Battle of Lumphanan in 1057. A stroll around the village will take you to Macbeth’s Well and Macbeth’s Stone.

Brochs are Iron Age structures – a type of complex roundhouse found only in Scotland. There are over 500 known examples, mostly in northern and western Scotland and the islands.

Edin's Hall Broch

If you are made of sterner stuff than the rest of us, then you might want to strap on your walking boots head to Edin’s Hall Broch in the Scottish Borders. This is a rare example of a Lowland broch and it can be reached by an exhilarating hike along the Whiteadder Water. The site is surrounded by a hillfort which pre-dates the broch itself – it was probably built between 2,000 and 2,500 years ago.

The Glenelg Brochs

Or how about a visit to a pair of 2,000-year-old tall broch towers set in a beautiful glen? The Glenelg Brochs – Dun Telve and Dun Troddan – are set just 500m apart. They attracted considerable interest in the 1700s and 1800s because of their remarkable preservation. In 1885, they were among the earliest monuments to be passed into state care.

Walk way back into Scotland's prehistory with a visit to a stone circle, burial cairn or rock art.

Tomnaverie Stone Circle

If you prefer your adventures on the prehistoric side, then how about an outing to Tomnaverie Stone Circle?

As you wander around the remains of this stone circle amid an ancient, sacred landscape, you can take in spectacular views of Lochnagar. The stone circle has an interesting, if somewhat contrasting neighbour - an underground Royal Observer Corps post built in the 1960s.

Both can be incorporated into a pleasant walk from the nearby village of Tarland.

Wideford Hill Chambered Cairn

Enjoy a bracing hillside walk on the Orkney mainland, with an awe-inspiring Neolithic tomb at the end of it. Will you dare to descend into the darkness of a 5,000-year-old chambered tomb?

The current stepped shape of Wideford Cairn is down to 20th century consolidation works. The original cairn is likely to have been more domed.

Kilmartin Glen

Burial cairns, a stone circle, rock art and a hillfort – Kilmartin Glen has it all. This extraordinary landscape boasts the most important concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in mainland Scotland. The glen is also home to an important collection of medieval sculptured stones.

These cup and ring markings at Achnabreck in Kilmartin Glen are believed to be about 5,000 years old.