Walks in The Ettrick & Yarrow Valleys
The valleys surrounding the Gordon Arms have some of the most beautiful countryside in Scotland and are ideal walking country.
The area offers a variety of landscapes: delightful river valleys, glistening lochs, extensive woodland and forests, majestic hills and wild moorland.
If you are walking the
Southern Upland Way, we can even provide transfers to and from The Glen Cafe at St Mary's Loch. Simply book it online at same time as making your room reservation.
The walks below have been written to help visitors and residents alike to enjoy some of the wonderful walks that the valleys have to offer. Walkers of all abilities and ages will find routes that they can enjoy and each route has an indicative grading to offer guidance as to ease or difficulty. Several walks pass sites of historic interest, including the many fortified towers of the valleys, and most offer spectacular views and a sense of solitude.
All the walks have been extracted (with permission) from a booklet produced by the Ettrick & Yarrow Valleys Tourism Group* and financed through the 'Revitalising the Ettrick and Yarrow Valleys Project' (funded by Scottish Borders LEADER Programme, Southern Uplands Partnership and Buccleuch Estates). Maps are based on Ordnance Survey mapping provided by Scottish Borders Council under licence (100023423) 2008, to promote walking within the Scottish Borders.
WALK 1 - Ettrickbridge Village Walk
1ml/1.6k, 165ft./50m.climb, GRADE: Easy
WALK 2 - Ettrickbridge Circular via Kirkhope Tower
3m./4.8k, 425ft/130m. GRADE: Easy/Mod.
WALK 3 - Ettrickbridge Circular via Howford Hill and Helmburn Hill
4m/6.5k, 425ft/130m climb GRADE: Easy/Mod
WALK 4 - Yarrowford Circular via Broadmeadows and the Three Brethren
5m/8k, 1150ft/350m climb GRADE: Mod
WALK 5 - Yarrowford Circular via Minch Moor, Brown Knowe, Three Brethren & Broadmeadows
10m/16k, 1475ft/450m climb GRADE: Mod / Strenuous
WALK 6 - Dryhope Circular via Blackhouse Tower & Craig Douglas
6m/9.6k, 330ft/100m climb GRADE: Mod
WALK 7 - The Lochs Walk, Bowhill Estate
2m/3.2k, 80ft/25m climb GRADE: Easy
WALK 8 - The Lady's Walk, Bowhill Estate
2m/3.2k, 80ft/25m climb GRADE: Easy
WALK 9 - The Duchess's Drive, Bowhill Estate
7m/11.3k, 985ft/300m climb GRADE: Mod / Strenuous
WALK 10 - Ettrick Head Horshoe
10m/16k, 2015ft/620m climb GRADE: Strenuous
WALK 11 - White Shank, Capel Fell & Ettrick Head Shorter Circular
6.5m/10.5k, 1445ft/440m climb GRADE: Mod / Strenuous
WALK 12 - Ettrickhead, Windfell, Hopetoun Craig & Ettrick Pen Circular
6.5m/10.5k, 1310ft/400m climb GRADE: Mod / Strenuous
WALK 13 - Tibbie Shiels Circular via Pikestone Rig & Loch of the Lowes
5m/8k, 820ft/250m climb GRADE: Moderate
WALK 14 - Yarrow - Ettrick Circular via The Captain's Road, Scabcleuch & Riskenhope
13m/21k, 1540ft/470m climb GRADE: Strenuous
WALK 15 - Ettrick Circular via The Southern Upland Way & The Captain's Road
10m/16k, 1115ft/340m climb GRADE: Moderate / Strenuous
WALK 16 - Tima Circular via Gamescleuch Tower & Burn
4m/6.5k, 425ft/130m climb GRADE: Easy / Moderate
WALK 17 - Ettrick Marshes & High Conifer Forest Route
5m/8k, 395ft/120m climb GRADE: Moderate
WALK 18 - Ettrick Marshes Hut Circle
1m/1.6k, 50ft/15m climb GRADE: Easy
WALK 19 - Tima Loop
0.5m/0.8k, 50ft/15m climb GRADE: Easy
*The proprietors of The Gordon Arms Hotel in Yarrow are grateful to Barbara Harrison for allowing some parts of the booklet to be reproduced on this website for the use of visitors passing through the hotel.
Photograph Acknowledgements:
Photographs of the valleys from:
Douglas Hardie, Barbara Harrison, Daphne Jackson, Linda Jackson, Lillias Noble, Julie Nock, Jeremy Snodgrass and Viv Young.
Wildlife photographs:
David Baird - Red Squirrel, Mike Baker - Fox, Red Admiral, Susan Kevan - Heron, Tree Creeper, Dreamtime Stock Photos and Stock Free Images - Buzzard (Smokon), Kingfisher (Camerziga), Otter (Rpernell) and Roe Deer (Vchphoto).