Harlaw Reservoir – An Easy Lap of the Water above Balerno
Harlaw is one of the easiest walks in the Pentland Hills: a flat circuit of a reservoir with trees round it, two miles in all, with Black Hill and the tops of the range showing through the gaps.
A longer way loops out along Threipmuir Reservoir next door. Down in Balerno afterwards there's a village pub that's glad to see walkers and their dogs.
- Time
- About an hour: the park's circuit of Harlaw Reservoir is 2 miles (3.5 km), flat; Walkhighlands' round of both reservoirs is 2.75 miles (4.25 km).
- The path
- The park says the circuit suits all abilities: a path of 0.9 miles along one side and a tarmac track of a mile along the other.
- Where to start
- Harlaw car park, beside Harlaw House, EH14 7AS. A pay car park: the price is on the machine. It fills at weekends.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. The pub opens at 1pm. From November to January start the walk by 2pm.
- Dogs
- Keep dogs clear of anglers, and out of the water when blue-green algae is about in summer.
- Children
- Flat and short; deep, cold water beside the path.
- Before you set out
- The reservoirs are fished from March to November. Keep off the ice and away from the dam towers.
The walk
Park at the Harlaw car park above Balerno, beside the Harlaw House visitor information point. EH14 7AS is the postcode. The car park has a pay machine, and the Regional Park says its car parks often run out of room, so come early at a weekend. By bus, Lothian's 44 runs to its Balerno terminus, and the park's bus leaflet gives the way up from there.
The park's Harlaw woodland walk goes right round the reservoir, waymarked with a squirrel. It's 2 miles, flat and easy, with a path of just under a mile along one side and a tarmac track along the other, and the park says it suits all abilities. Trees stand round the water, and through them you look across to Black Hill, Turnhouse and West Kip. For a longer walk, a path by Black Springs and the side of Threipmuir Reservoir loops back onto the same circuit.
Walkhighlands gives its round of the two reservoirs as 2.75 miles and about an hour. Both are fished from March to November, some anglers from boats, so keep dogs clear of anyone casting. Stay off the ice in winter and away from the dam towers. From November to January, start by 2pm.
If it rains
The circuit is level and half of it is tarmac, so it's still a walk on a wet day, and the pub is a short drive away.
Afterwards
10 min by car
The Grey Horse
A drink
The Grey Horse is on Main Street in Balerno, 10 minutes' drive down from Harlaw. It's a village pub with real ales in Brow's Bar, a lounge bar and a beer garden, and it says walkers, cyclists and dogs are all welcome, with water bowls and biscuits for the dogs. It opens at 1pm every day, until 11pm from Sunday to Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday, so time the walk to finish after one. Over Christmas and New Year, check before going.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by exploringedinburgh